Kentucky Dropout Age Debate Continues

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The debate over the Kentucky law allowing 16 year olds to drop out of high school with parental permission is coming up again in this year's legislative session. Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife, Jane, along with a bevy of education officials, say lawmakers should support a bill that would gradually raise the legal dropout age from 16 to 18. It has failed in past sessions.

Education experts say 6,000 to 7,000 students drop out of high school annually in the Commonwealth. Officials have also used alternative schools as another way to keep students from dropping out.