Stay In School

News from the U.S. Department of Education that high school seniors in 2005 scored significantly lower in reading than their counterparts in 1992 has produced a fresh round of hand-wringing about the nation's 14,900 public high schools. There's a lot to worry about: By some calculations, barely more than half of black and Latino students earn regular high school diplomas, and the new federal study reports that only 35 percent of all students who stay in school into their senior year read well enough to make inferences from a passage.

BaseballDiamondbacks: Acquired P Jason Hart from Independent Schaumburg.Indians: Agreed to terms with P Dave Telgheder, P Mike Walker, former Orioles IF Jeff Manto, IF Orlando Miller and C Chris Turner on minor-league contracts.Pirates: Agreed to terms on minor-league contract with 1B Domingo Martinez.Reds: Signed P Giovanni Carrara, P Todd Etler, P Denny Harriger, P Marty Janzen, P Tom Kramer, P John Riedling, P Scott Ruffcorn, P Rod Steph, P Scott Williamson, P Joey Eischen, P Eddie Priest, P Kevin Tolar, IF Jeff Branson, IF Steve Eddie, IF Jerry Salzano, IF Jason Williams and OF Wonderful Monds to Triple-A contracts.

The Howard County chapter didn't sign on when the NAACP began back-to-school rallies in 1990 to encourage students to stay in school; dropouts were not a Columbia problem.County high schools stayed within the 1.25 percent dropout rate considered acceptable by the state.This year, though, the chapter kicks off the school year with five rallies, beginning tomorrow. The NAACP will hand out school supplies at the rallies."In certain schools, the dropout rate -- especially among African-American males -- has gone to double and triple the state standard," said Natalie Woodson, who chairs the education committee of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

BaseballDiamondbacks: Acquired P Jason Hart from Independent Schaumburg.Indians: Agreed to terms with P Dave Telgheder, P Mike Walker, former Orioles IF Jeff Manto, IF Orlando Miller and C Chris Turner on minor-league contracts.Pirates: Agreed to terms on minor-league contract with 1B Domingo Martinez.Reds: Signed P Giovanni Carrara, P Todd Etler, P Denny Harriger, P Marty Janzen, P Tom Kramer, P John Riedling, P Scott Ruffcorn, P Rod Steph, P Scott Williamson, P Joey Eischen, P Eddie Priest, P Kevin Tolar, IF Jeff Branson, IF Steve Eddie, IF Jerry Salzano, IF Jason Williams and OF Wonderful Monds to Triple-A contracts.

The conference room of one of Maryland's largest law firms was bustling with activity: People milled around a bank of computers creating graphics with an animation program, researching data on library CD-ROMs, reviewing accident reconstruction videotapes.But these weren't attorneys preparing for a big case. They were elementary school students learning the ins and outs of the legal profession.The 40 fifth- and sixth-graders from Patapsco Elementary School are members of the Law Club, a program the Cherry Hill school designed with Piper & Marbury LLP to encourage students to stay in school, attend college and join the professional work force.

The NAACP went back to school yesterday with a pep rally at Dunbar High School in East Baltimore for its revitalized dropout prevention program.The Back to School/Stay in School program, which fell victim to budget cuts two years ago while the organization struggled to overcome a $3.2 million debt, is set to resume in September under Adrienne Watson, its 27-year-old national director.Watson said the program would link National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branches, schools, churches, businesses and community groups to develop activities to encourage young people to continue their educations.

IN THE SPIRIT of the season and of the day, Education Beat offers brief profiles of three Baltimoreans who give of themselves as volunteers in public schools.One of them can be described as a secular evangelist. The second is a longtime -- and we mean longtime -- volunteer. The third is a mentor and role model in the inner city. The three are soldiers in an army of people who believe unfashionably that you don't have to be paid to bring goodwill to humankind.Gail Cuffie calls herself the "coordinator" of a program called Aiming for Success.

Pitching isn't thereStop the bleeding. Shut off the artery. The cliche of reading the handwriting on the wall does not apply here. The handwriting is billboard size at Camden Yards. Don't think World Series. Don't think pennant. This pitching staff won't get us into the playoffs. Mr. Gillick, where are you? We're not just losing. We're getting thundered.Joseph LarsonTowsonJohnson's strategy faultyDavey Johnson, you blew it! I can't believe nobody else would say it. Not Buster Olney, not Peter Schmuck, not John Eisenberg, not John Steadman, not even Ken Rosenthal.

WASHINGTON -- Saying he hoped to "help teen mothers break free from the cycle of dependency for good," President Clinton announced several actions yesterday intended to prod states to encourage teen-age mothers on welfare to stay in school.Devoting his weekly radio address to welfare, Clinton said that the Department of Health and Human Services would require all states to submit annual plans showing how they will fashion welfare programs that keep young mothers in school. He said the plans would then be judged for their effectiveness.

The third-graders watched intently as Roy Alonso, 72, opened the "mystery box" and lifted out what looked like a battered leather football."How many of you saw 'Jurassic Park'?" asked Alonso, an eclectic collector, who visited Moravia Park Primary School on a recent Friday afternoon for a show-and-tell session called "History Alive."The students' eyes widened when he said, "This is the real Jurassic Park. This is a dinosaur egg, 97 million years old. It was found in China. Earthquakes and mudslides buried it, and now it's hard -- petrified -- like a stone."

Nobody asked me, but ... I have no problem with speed cameras in school zones, or anywhere for that matter. It wouldn't be the first time technology augmented law enforcement. In fact, I'd like to see a few speed cameras installed on highway overpasses to catch people doing 85-and-up on the interstates. Speaking of driving and roads, have you done the new Route 30 bypass between upper Hampstead and lower Hampstead in Carroll County? It's kind of amazing - three traffic circles and six miles of pavement through picturesque farm country.

I believe that if the NCAA wanted to, it could -- in conjunction with the NBA and with the blessing of the fans -- give players reason to attend school, stay for a while and get some real educational benefit from it, including a degree. I also believe that the NCAA isn't even remotely interested in accomplishing any of that, except where it gets the organization more money and a better reputation. Same for the NBA. As for the fans, they care deeply about graduation rates and the annual Academic Progress Rate right up until the time their favorite team makes a Final Four run. If the powers-that-be in college sports really cared about the players' "academic progress," they would seek to function less as moneymakers for the NCAA itself and for its member schools and less as the NBA's minor league.

Recent studies show that too many Maryland students are missing from schools because of suspensions, prolonged absences or truancy. A lot of these students won't stay the course until graduation. That shouldn't be tolerated when a high school diploma is considered essential for employment as well as for higher education. An analysis released last month by Advocates for Children and Youth, a Maryland-based group, found that the state's overall suspension rate in 2006-2007 was 9 percent, the second-highest rate on record.

It doesn't take much of a leap to predict that a student who is frequently suspended for short periods of time becomes a likely candidate to drop out. That's why school districts need to intervene more quickly and aggressively when a child acts out in ways that result in being excluded from class. The General Assembly is considering legislation that would set up a limited number of pilot programs. But more pilot programs are not the answer. School districts already have effective tools to help more students, even those who are disruptive, stay in school.

News from the U.S. Department of Education that high school seniors in 2005 scored significantly lower in reading than their counterparts in 1992 has produced a fresh round of hand-wringing about the nation's 14,900 public high schools. There's a lot to worry about: By some calculations, barely more than half of black and Latino students earn regular high school diplomas, and the new federal study reports that only 35 percent of all students who stay in school into their senior year read well enough to make inferences from a passage.

THE ISSUE: -- The Howard County school system is looking into creating a truancy court that places stiffer penalties on students, including the possible loss of driving privileges. What do you think? Let us not confuse education, driving The Sun notes that Howard County school officials are considering punishing truant students with loss of driving privileges. We have seen some horrible traffic accidents in the county recently and there is a lesson to be taught to young drivers. The lesson is: Drive safely.

Baltimore school officials announced yesterday that students will be required to stay in school for a full day on three days that were previously scheduled as half-days. Students were scheduled to go home early Feb. 17, April 28 and May 26 while their teachers stayed at school for professional development. However, on the other half-days this school year, student attendance has been extremely low, system officials said. The state requires schools to have an attendance rate of 94 percent.

School chaos puts kids on wrong path It is clear that many inner-city black children start their school careers several steps behind their suburban counterparts, either white or black. And most of our big-city governments tolerate and run school programs which are clearly inferior to those in schools in the suburbs ("Black `leaders' on wrong path," Opinion * Commentary, Oct. 19). These schools are filled with the neediest students, and their needs are often not effectively met by these schools.

If Baltimore had a public boarding school for homeless teens, Iven Bailey might have been spared his nomadic existence. He might have even persuaded his best friend, Gary Sells, to join him there. Considering the rundown rowhouse in which Mr. Sells lived without mother or father, it wasn't long before he, too, was out on his own - all the while trying to stay in school and graduate. As The Sun's recent series "On Their Own," painfully documented, homeless students such as Mr. Sells and Mr. Bailey, who are trying to stay in school and fend for themselves, have very few options.

Keturah Saunders can attend classes at Wilde Lake High School without worrying about her 2-year-old daughter. In fact, Maliyah is attending school with Saunders, one of 12 young mothers enrolled in the Howard County school system's teen parent and outreach program based at the Columbia school. "It makes it easier for me to stay in school," said Saunders, 18, a senior. "I feel a little bit safer having her here." For 20 years, the countywide program has helped several hundred mothers and fathers stay in school by providing child care for their babies while they are in classes nearby.