For Immediate Release

Contact: Stacey Range Messina

(517) 485-3500 or

New Dropout Study Should Alarm All Michigan

Efforts Underway To Address Crisis in Detroit & Elsewhere

LANSING, MI – A national report released today putting Detroit’s high school graduation rate at the bottom of the nation’s 50 largest cities should be the final wake-up call Michigan needs to address this educational and workforce crisis once and for all.

The report, issued by America’s Promise Alliance, showed a 24.9 percent graduation rate in 2003-04 for the Detroit City School District. The next lowest was Indianapolis Public Schools at 30.5 percent.

“This is a real crisis not just for Detroit but for all of Michigan,” said Michele Robotham Corey, Director of Community Advocacy for Michigan’s Children. “Our entire state including youths, parents, educators, government and business leaders, and every taxpayer and resident of Michigan must recognize that they are harmed in the pocketbook and in the quality of our workforce.”

One of Michigan’s Children’s top priorities for 2008 is to ensure that all young adults in Michigan have access to a high school diploma – the ticket to higher education and success in the 21st Century’s knowledge economy. Unfortunately, the 2006 Census found 170,000 young adults aged 18-24 in Michigan – more than one in six – are without a high school diploma. Many youths who have dropped out say they did so because of a lack of community or school support, or they fell behind in their grade level. Many others were forced out of school by harsh zero tolerance policies. And once out, many youths say they have a difficult time getting back into a regular school setting.

Michigan’s Children is tackling this issue on two key fronts. On October 20, Michigan’s Children will be part of the statewide Michigan Dropout Prevention Leadership Summit at the Lansing Center. The summit is being hosted by Michigan’s Promise with support from America’s Promise Alliance and State Farm Insurance.

In addition, Michigan’s Children in May of 2007 launchedthe Improving Outcomes for Out-Of-School Youths in Michigan Initiative to build public support for creating state and local policy and practices aimed at improving educational opportunities for young people. The effort, which is being funded by the Flint-based C.S. Mott Foundation, is mobilizing key stakeholders, including policymakers, educational organizations and associations, youth-serving agencies and advocates, to formulate and fight for best practices to better serve students and the state.

A significant part of this initiative has been in working with partners in Wayne, Kent, Genesee and Kalamazoo Counties, including within the City of Detroit, to host a series of discussions engaging youths and policymakers to better understand the hurdles youths face and the programs that help them overcome educational barriers. Many policymakers from all levels of government, including Congress, the state Legislature, county commissions and city councils, have commented on how greatly they have benefited from the Youth Voices Changing Public Policy series.

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Through these discussions and other research, Michigan’s Children has identified three key policy changes that must be made to improve graduation rates:

  • Overhaul Michigan’s “zero tolerance” suspension and expulsion policies, which are much more expansive than federal requirements and most other states. They also disproportionately affect youths of color.
  • Create incentives for school districts to provide multiple pathways to high school graduation, including alternative education, truancy prevention, credit recovery initiatives and innovative partnerships with community colleges and other local agencies.
  • Open up the working group created by the Granholm administration and a few key legislative and educational leaders to address the issue. This conversation must include a wider range of stakeholders, including other state departments, advocates, the philanthropic community, business and community leaders.

“The data from this study and others show that there is no more time to wait,” Ms. Corey said. “We need to tackle this problem now for the health and success not only of Michigan’s youths but of the state as a whole.”

For more about this initiative, go to the Education issues page at To read America’s Promise Alliance report Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytical Report on High School Graduation, go to

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Michigan’s Children is a statewide, independent voice for children and their families.

We work with lawmakers, business leaders and communities to make Michigan a place where all children have the opportunity to thrive.