Has high school diploma lost value for Class of 2004?

Has high school diplomalost value for Class of 2004?
In coming days and weeks, thousands of high school students in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys will join more than 2 million others nationwide in donning caps and gowns to mark a defining milestone in their lives.
Collectively, this year's crop of high school graduates is bigger and brighter than those in recent years. Thanks to the baby boomlet of the late 1980s and 1990s, the ranks of high school graduates are swelling, a trend that is expected to continue through 2008-09 when some 3.2 million students are projected to complete secondary school, according to the College Board. Students continue to show modest improvements on standardized achievement and proficiency tests as well.
'Disconnected' young people
At the same time, however, according to a report released this week, many of them are "disconnected," exiting high school with no work and no immediate prospects for furthering their education.
According to sponsors of the KidsCount study, compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the number of these "disconnected" 18- to 24-year-olds is 15 percent, a 19 percent increase over the past three years.
"Over 3.8 million disconnected youth face a greater likelihood of bad outcomes, now and in the future, which hold severe implications for our society," said Douglas W. Nelson, president of the foundation, a private research and grant-making concern that focuses on young people.
Although the growth in "disconnects" may point to a need for greater direction for high schoolers by parents, educators and counselors, it may also simply reflect a slight uptick in the number of young people in that age group who historically have not settled on definite life-defining decisions at this stage in their lives.
On a brighter note, the report shows that since 1996, the rate of students dropping out of high school has fallen.
In Ohio, the graduation rate stands at 70 percent, ranking it smack dab in the middle of the 50 states, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Students in urban districts and minorities, however, face much more staggering dropout levels, as high as 50 percent in some areas. Clearly greater efforts must be made at retaining such at-risk students.
Value of the diploma
Some academics go so far as to argue that the high school diploma has lost any tangible value. One report issued earlier this year by the American Diploma Project, a coalition of education groups that seeks more rigid English and math requirements in high school, concluded that today's diploma carries little meaning in determining whether students are ready for college or the workplace.
We challenge that assertion. Although there is still room for improving curriculum in public schools, high school diplomas do carry meaning and proven income producing potential. According to a recent study at Auburn University, today's high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $9,000 more per year than those who have none. The lack of a diploma also makes finding and keeping work more difficult and increases the likelihood of falling into public assistance, it added.
For most graduates, diplomas are critical steppingstones to a traditional four-year college, a community college, technical school or a direct leap into the workplace. Before taking any of these steps, however, the grads deserve some time to simply savor the accomplishments of their 13-year educational odyssey.
Congratulations to the region's Class of 2004.