o
cia
By hy r
Capital News Service
LA I G - Although
dropout rates arc a significant
I concern, the problem is shifting
with the state's new service
economy to affect the middle
class.
omi Bryon, consultant
for the bur u of educational
ervices in the state Department
of Education, said she bcli ves
part of the dropout problem is
due to parents who didn't en­
courage their children to get an
education, because the parents
didn't need one.
"I think it's affecting the mid­
dl cl " Bryson said. "This is
th group e're trying to save
now."
Don d Bemi statesuperin­
tendent of public instruction,
said dropouts vary dramatically
throughout st teo
An exanip of this is the 40
percent dropou rate in the
Detroit Public Schools. The
Detroit schools have a 39.8 per­
cent dropout rate i 1987, while
a the tate, Holland has
bout a 7.5 percent rate. The
last reported ate dropout rate .
was at 5.8 percent in 1986.
Walter Sch arz, uperinten­
dent for Clare public schools,
said for the pas 11 years, the
dropout rate h been between
0.5 and 1 percent,
e have good community
support with high expectations
bri
u in S 09 r
Lawsuit fneb ·over pri�on pr � ect
1 he-Nati 1 .. f
By All on Jo t e Nationa As OCI tron 0
. DETROIT - "Where are African American Businesses
our millionaires?" (NAAAB) by Glen W h spot-
That question put t over 50 lighted the purpose of the grou p
African American and the difficulties it face. ,
bus in ess peo pi at a meeting of Among its first projects, the
I four-month old organization
has tackled a major dispute be­
tween an African American
contractor and white company
over the state's Mound Road
Prison facility now under con­
struction ..
Wash, whose firm Wash
Construction is co-manag r of
the prison project was invited to
address the Feb. 25 AAAB
meeting.
Wash represents the tate of
Michig ninth prison con­
struction and i r ponsible for
(for th students), which leads
to loW dropout rates," Schwarz
said e'rc small, too, and I
think th t helps."
Bob Doctor, principal at
Petoskey High School, said its
dropout r te is about 5.5 per­
cent and has been at that level
for the past two year .
"It's pretty hard to put a
handle on dropou rates," Doc­
tor said "There i no way to
ever really figure if out"
Ernie Melton, principal at
C D do 11
"State officials are trying to get
rid of them altogether."
She asked how Blanchard
could claim 0 be fe min is
when hi .policies ere driving
single women in to andering
the streets, here they auld be
in even more danger than the
11
