Tagged: Dropout Age

Kentucky education commissioner Terry Holliday says the first 57 school districts that raise their dropout age from 16 to 18 will be given a $10,000 state grant.

Holliday made the announcement Wednesday during a state Board of Education meeting in Frankfort. Just before the announcement, board members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution urging Kentucky's 174 school districts to raise the dropout age as soon as possible.

After five years of advocacy, supporters of raising Kentucky's dropout age to 18 celebrated Monday as Gov. Steve Beshear signed the bill into law.

The Kentucky House approved on Monday legislation that gradually raises the age when students can drop out of school—a compromise reached after past efforts to strike a deal failed. The dropout bill allows local school boards to choose whether to raise the dropout age to 18. After 55 percent of Kentucky's school boards raise the drop out limit, the change in four years becomes mandatory statewide.

The Senate has passed its own version of legislation that would require students to stay in school until they're 18, up from the current dropout age of 16. The vote was 36 - 2 yesterday. The House unanimously passed a similar proposal last week. Each chamber will consider the other's legislation.

Students wouldn't be allowed to drop out of school before their 18th birthday under legislation that passed in the House Thursday.

Two-term Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has been promoting the legislation for years, most recently in his annual State of the Commonwealth speech. The proposal would increase the dropout age incrementally from 16 to 18 over a period of years, giving both students and school districts time to adjust to the change.