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American Morning

Warning to Dropouts

Aired February 26, 2004 - 09:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Chicago's public schools are about to adopt a controversial new policy regarding high school dropouts that will require students to sign a waiver, stating that dropouts are more likely to end up in prison, on welfare or jobless. A parent's signature will also be required. Critics say the language is over the, top but Chicago's school CEO, Arne Duncan, said it's meant to be brutally honest, and he joins us this morning from Chicago to talk about the plan.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

ARNE DUNCAN, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about this waiver. What brought you to this point?

DUNCAN: Well what we want to do is pull out all the stops and make sure our students know the devastating consequences of dropping out. And our dropout rate has been declining steadily since the mayor took over the public schools in 1995, and we're actually at an all-time low. We want to continue to reduce that rate.

And as everyone knows, if students drop out, they're much more likely to end up in welfare, in up in jail, it's almost impossible to get a good paying job in today's economy. And we want students and parents to think very, very clearly about the devastating consequences of that decision before they take it.

O'BRIEN: The drop-out rate and all-time low -- what is the dropout rate in Chicago?

DUNCAN: It's approximately 13 percent a year, and that's still too high. We're still trying to reduce that obviously.

O'BRIEN: Here's what the students have to sign, they're going to sign this: "I'll be less likely to find good jobs that pay well, bad jobs that don't pay well, or maybe any jobs. I'll be more likely to get caught up in criminal activity and illegal behaviors. I'll be more likely to spend time in jail or prison. I'll be more likely to rely on the state welfare system for my livelihood."

Previously, the students were able to phone in their decisions. They didn't need their parents to sign anything in order to drop out of school. Is the goal in this basically to scare kids?

DUNCAN: It's really to give them the facts. And what we're trying to do is teach our students great decision-making skills. And so often students drop out if things are getting a little tough at home or they're having a tough time in school. We want to get students the social support they need and really help them through the tough times, let them know whatever the issue is, whatever they're dealing with, dropping out is simply not the answer. It's just going to have tremendous negative consequences for them throughout their lives. We want them to think about this very, very closely, as well as their parents, before they take that step.

O'BRIEN: Critics of the program of the waivers say actually it's not helpful in the way that you describe. In fact, they say it's over the top, it's unprofessional. What's your response to that?

DUNCAN: I think it's simply honest. An this is not something we want to sugarcoat. We want to give students the facts. This is the reality. And the more they understand that, the more students understand, you know, how important it is to stay in school, the better the decisions they're going to make. For us not to be straightforward, not to be honest about this, is the wrong thing. Our job is to fight for kids. The more we keep kids in school, the better they're going to do. That's just an obvious statement.

O'BRIEN: This is a 180-degree turn from what you had just a month ago, where the parents weren't required at to sign any kind of waiver or any kind of documentation. What's the parents' response been?

DUNCAN: I think this is very important. I think parents welcome that. We want to keep our parents engaged in their students' lives. And it's again, the more parents are thinking through what's the right thing for their child. The more students are thinking through, what does this mean for me? Not for the next month or for the six weeks, but for the next 40, 50, 60 years of my life. The more they have good facts, good information, the more we can work with them through those tough times, keep them in school and continue to try and dramatically reduce the dropout rate here in Chicago.

O'BRIEN: You're expecting it to be adopted today. Any legal challenges to it in any way?

DUNCAN: Actually, our board meeting was last night and it passed unanimously, I'm pleased to report.

O'BRIEN: Then congratulations are in order to you. Thanks for joining us this morning. Arne Duncan is the CEO of the Chicago schools. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 26, 2004 - 09:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Chicago's public schools are about to adopt a controversial new policy regarding high school dropouts that will require students to sign a waiver, stating that dropouts are more likely to end up in prison, on welfare or jobless. A parent's signature will also be required. Critics say the language is over the, top but Chicago's school CEO, Arne Duncan, said it's meant to be brutally honest, and he joins us this morning from Chicago to talk about the plan.
Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.

ARNE DUNCAN, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Tell me a little bit about this waiver. What brought you to this point?

DUNCAN: Well what we want to do is pull out all the stops and make sure our students know the devastating consequences of dropping out. And our dropout rate has been declining steadily since the mayor took over the public schools in 1995, and we're actually at an all-time low. We want to continue to reduce that rate.

And as everyone knows, if students drop out, they're much more likely to end up in welfare, in up in jail, it's almost impossible to get a good paying job in today's economy. And we want students and parents to think very, very clearly about the devastating consequences of that decision before they take it.

O'BRIEN: The drop-out rate and all-time low -- what is the dropout rate in Chicago?

DUNCAN: It's approximately 13 percent a year, and that's still too high. We're still trying to reduce that obviously.

O'BRIEN: Here's what the students have to sign, they're going to sign this: "I'll be less likely to find good jobs that pay well, bad jobs that don't pay well, or maybe any jobs. I'll be more likely to get caught up in criminal activity and illegal behaviors. I'll be more likely to spend time in jail or prison. I'll be more likely to rely on the state welfare system for my livelihood."

Previously, the students were able to phone in their decisions. They didn't need their parents to sign anything in order to drop out of school. Is the goal in this basically to scare kids?

DUNCAN: It's really to give them the facts. And what we're trying to do is teach our students great decision-making skills. And so often students drop out if things are getting a little tough at home or they're having a tough time in school. We want to get students the social support they need and really help them through the tough times, let them know whatever the issue is, whatever they're dealing with, dropping out is simply not the answer. It's just going to have tremendous negative consequences for them throughout their lives. We want them to think about this very, very closely, as well as their parents, before they take that step.

O'BRIEN: Critics of the program of the waivers say actually it's not helpful in the way that you describe. In fact, they say it's over the top, it's unprofessional. What's your response to that?

DUNCAN: I think it's simply honest. An this is not something we want to sugarcoat. We want to give students the facts. This is the reality. And the more they understand that, the more students understand, you know, how important it is to stay in school, the better the decisions they're going to make. For us not to be straightforward, not to be honest about this, is the wrong thing. Our job is to fight for kids. The more we keep kids in school, the better they're going to do. That's just an obvious statement.

O'BRIEN: This is a 180-degree turn from what you had just a month ago, where the parents weren't required at to sign any kind of waiver or any kind of documentation. What's the parents' response been?

DUNCAN: I think this is very important. I think parents welcome that. We want to keep our parents engaged in their students' lives. And it's again, the more parents are thinking through what's the right thing for their child. The more students are thinking through, what does this mean for me? Not for the next month or for the six weeks, but for the next 40, 50, 60 years of my life. The more they have good facts, good information, the more we can work with them through those tough times, keep them in school and continue to try and dramatically reduce the dropout rate here in Chicago.

O'BRIEN: You're expecting it to be adopted today. Any legal challenges to it in any way?

DUNCAN: Actually, our board meeting was last night and it passed unanimously, I'm pleased to report.

O'BRIEN: Then congratulations are in order to you. Thanks for joining us this morning. Arne Duncan is the CEO of the Chicago schools. Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com