Last modified: Wednesday, March 7, 2007 1:24 AM EST The clock tower at the North Attleboro Police Department. (Staff photo by MARK STOCKWELL) Experts doubt dropout scheme BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to require teens to stay in school until they graduate or turn 18 will do little to educate them if they are disinterested or disruptive, educators said Tuesday. Teens who want to drop out need alternatives to traditional education, not just a law mandating they remain in school, they said. "Keeping kids in school by law is not going to make a big difference," said Charles Glenn, a dean at Boston University School of Education. "Not every kid prospers from being in high school," he said. Patrick said Monday he wants a law passed to raise the age for dropping out of school from 16 to 18. Glenn said simply raising the age is not the answer. He points to his own son who dropped out of high school and got a job at a start-up software company. The son was successful there and later went to college. He is now working on a doctoral degree in mathematics, Glenn said. The key is to provide a meaningful alternative for teens who do not succeed or do not want to continue with traditional high school, he said. Glenn said the United States should look at the German system, which provides work apprenticeships while requiring the teens take courses at night. Patrick threw his support behind a bill calling for the legal dropout age to be raised. The governor said the current system is a vestige of the agricultural era and no longer works. He cited studies that found that dropouts earn significantly less money over the course of their lifetime than those who complete high school and college. Patrick was speaking at a conference in Worcester, which also heard from economist Andrew Sum. Sum said high school dropouts earn an average of $16,000 a year. High school graduates earn $26,000, college graduates $50,000 and those with a master's degree make an average of $75,000 a year. "Dropouts can simply not achieve an adequate standard of living in the 21st century United States or 21st century Massachusetts," the Worcester Telegram quoted Sum as saying. But, local educators said teens who want to drop out have already had problems in traditional settings and are unlikely to succeed without alternatives. Forcing them to stay in school could also make them disruptive. Francis Connor, superintendent of Dighton-Rehoboth Regional Schools, said dropouts are not a significant problem in his system. Still, he said, those who are at risk of dropping out need extra help or a different way of attending school. He said for city schools with higher dropout rates, keeping students in school until age 18 will require a major investment in funds for alternative programs. "They need finances and programs and resources. This is a unique population. They need counseling services and tutoring and individual programs because traditional programs have not been successful," he said. Attleboro High School Principal Donald Frederick said forcing older teens to stay in school when they do not want to be there could cause concerns. He said Attleboro has The Network, an alternative high school, that is a "wonderful program" for students who do not succeed in the regular high school. Providing a high-quality General Education Development, or GED, program is also essential, he said. Some students who drop out get their diploma through a GED program, go to community college, then a four-year college and do quite well, he said. "Some students just can't function in a traditional setting," he said.