With the rise of low graduation rates in urban areas, concerns arise as to how to reduce the alarmingly high numbers of the high school dropouts.

Among the initiatives is Schools That Can (STC), a network of high-performing schools. Network education leaders from around the country met to learn from each other, work together and share results.

Schools That Can is a nonprofit organization that works to support existing high-performing inner city schools so they can survive and thrive to serve even more students with a proven model. The network helps with recruitment, accreditation and continual validation; offers a strong interactive network within and outside of the STC network to enable the sharing of best practices between schools; provides financial support through grants targeted at expanding leadership for quality school growth; and creates and implements advocacy campaigns that raise public awareness for our schools and their need for ongoing support.

Education is a key issue in the United States, especially in urban schools. In the recent past, The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (EPE) released a report on the graduation rates for the principal school districts serving the nation’s 50 largest cities.

Unfortunately, Detroit was at the bottom of the list with a graduation rate of 24.9 percent in 2003-2004. To that, other cities including Indianapolis, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, Oakland, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston were included in the bottom half of the study, with a 57 percent graduation rate being the highest out of all of them.
 
Additionally, a significant achievement gap still persists in the United States.

According to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling’s remarks at the Detroit Economic Club in April, “Over their lifetimes, dropouts from the class of 2007 alone will cost our nation more than $300 billion in lost wages, lost tax revenue and lost productivity.”

Many education reform efforts have emerged to address the challenge of the achievement gap, virtually all of which may be categorized as “turnaround” of poorly performing schools or the development of new schools. Both initiatives, however, fail to support the high-performing educational elements that already exist in their communities. These are independent and charter schools raising the performance level of minority students, thus increasing high school and college graduation rates significantly.

The Skillman Foundation’s Making the Grade Initiative has supported high achieving schools, making an example of how to turn a school around.

Carol Goss, president of The Skillman Foundation, said the organization has worked aggressively to improve education in metro Detroit.

“If our students have a poor education they will be crippled in the future,” she said.

Brooke Franklin, project director for the Business and Civic Engagement Project for the Detroit Regional Chamber, provided assistance in the identification of eligible schools as part of the Schools That Can national network. Franklin is the Schools That Can Michigan representative.

New Detroit, United Way of Southeastern Michigan and the Detroit Regional Chamber recently hosted a two-day Dropout Prevention Summit to offer alternatives to metro Detroit schools that are struggling to retain students.

Among the potential turnaround schools are several Detroit Public Schools including Denby, Osborn, Kettering and Finney.

Dr. Connie Calloway, superintendent, Detroit Public Schools, said the district is aiming to reduce the number of dropouts but is facing financial woes. The battle has been ongoing as to whether charter schools versus public schools provide students with a better education. That remains to be determined, but metro the charter schools have performed well.

Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats For Education Reform, addressed the state of education in the United States and the STC school’s achievements to date.

Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), David Ellis Academy and the YMCA Learning Service Academy have a proven success record. Detroit Edison Public School Academy was named National Charter School of the Year in 2007 and has also been named a Blue Ribbon Exemplary school with the Michigan Department of Education. DEPSA was the first charter school to be awarded this prestigious honor since the award’s inception in 1982.

The YMCA and David Ellis Academy continue to be honored locally and nationally. The David Ellis Academy has been able to serve more students by expanding due to a very generous grant with the Walton Foundation for school development and infrastructure. This grant has given them the opportunity to reach more children and provide a successful choice for parents.

Once thought of as three competing schools, they have begun to work together in a collaborative manner to lift up best practices until excellence has become the norm. Schools That Can and Team Detroit has made it possible to do so through quarterly round table discussions.