Is 53.7% okay with you? Its not with me!

One of my favorite things to do on Sunday is sit and read the Cleveland Plain Dealer while sipping a cup of coffee; and it is never better than in the spring when you can sit outside and soak up the early morning sun. Now I know it seems outdated getting my news from a piece of paper, but there is something about holding the paper while drinking your coffee that really gets you to read the articles, to listen to the message they are sending. When I am online I tend to skim more than anything and click away until I have gone from one subject to another without ever finishing a story, never really soaking in the impact of the earthquake or the success of the Space Shuttle mission. For this you need to let your mind absorb the story not just inhale it!


One article that really caught my eye this weekend had to do with a subject that I have already discussed in earlier posts and I believe is critical to the success of Cleveland in the long term. Sad to say the article was not a positive story.

The Cleveland High School graduation rate dropped 8 points in 2008 to 53.7%. Now the good news, if there could be any with a number like that, is it has actually been on the rise since a low in 1999 of 33.3% (http://blog.cleveland.com/pdgraphics_impact/2009/05/22cgDROPOUT.pdf), but we needed it to continue to climb, not drop last year.

While reading the story I had to ask if the economy was a factor? But it shouldn't have been, the big fallout of the economy did not occur until after the 2008 graduation year. I asked if there was a single big event in Cleveland that happened in 2007-08 that may have caused this higher dropout rate, maybe a major plant closing, or a school shutdown, anything? But there wasn't.

So why did graduation rates drop? And in my opinion, more importantly, how do we get them to go up again? Unfortunately the article did not offer any answers. But these are truly disturbing numbers...lets say that again...53.7%! In a time when college is practically mandatory, even in what was traditionally termed "blue collar" jobs, how can we have half of the students entering the ninth grade not even getting a diploma? There are reasons for some of the numbers, they don't take into account transfers outside the school system or family circumstances, but this number should be 80 or 90% not 53!


The good news is, Cleveland does understand how unacceptable these numbers are for its success. Also in the paper was an article about a scheduled visit from Bill Cosby to help Cleveland understand this issue and much in a way that I have also discussed in an earlier post...starting at home, with the parents. Its not just the schools and the teachers.

You can read the Plain Dealer article on Cosby's visit at the following address: "Cosby to parents: Listen to your children" http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/05/cosby_to_parents_listen_to_you.html

His theme says it all. Its not just about telling your kids to go to school...you need to listen to them, what do they need, what help can you provide, where are they struggling, what is happening in their lives that may be distracting them from what is truly important. Are they involved in gangs, drugs, sexual relationships at too young an age?

A favorite phrase at my office is "God gave you two ears and only one mouth for a reason." You need to listen twice as much and you speak. So here is the challenge to those Cleveland parents and parents everywhere, lets listen. Lets listen daily, lets show we really do care. Listening is free, we can all do it in our own ways, but do it.