If New York City mayoral candidate Christine Quinn gets her way, the city's legal dropout age will be raised to 18. Back in 2005, it was increased from 16 to 17. Quinn hopes this decision would discourage students from dropping out. “Anything less than 100 percent graduation rate is unacceptable, and we, as a city, must strive to change this and take measures to correct it," she explained.
In 2012, 9,000 students dropped out of New York City high schools—that's roughly 12 percent of the city's students. Still, the New York Post says that this is an improvement over 2006, when 40 percent of students dropped out.
“It makes a difference for counselors and teachers. When you tell a child, ‘You can’t actually do that until you’re 18,’ we know it’s going to cause some children to rethink it,” Quinn continued. There are 22 other states where the legal dropout age is 18.
[via New York Post]
