The high school dropout rate in Massachusetts was 3.4 percent last year, the state announced recently. That's just about what it has been for the last 10 years and, I dare say, for years and years before that.

Over four years it's pretty typical for a high school in a place like Attleboro to lose about one-quarter of its students. How could that be when so much effort has gone into keeping kids in school? All manner of reforms and alternative programs, no end of counseling and coaching have essentially failed to budge the dropout rate.

Now the state wants to try making students stay in school until they're 18, not 16 as has long been the case. The goal is to cut the dropout rate in half. I just don't see it happening, and I think the schools should stop beating themselves up over the dropout rate. Let's acknowledge some basic facts:

Some teenagers don't get school. They can't or won't study. If they're made to stay in school, they'll just drop out mentally instead of physically. Fortunately, this group represents a small portion of dropouts. More than 80 percent of Attleboro High School dropouts had in fact passed the 10th grade MCAS tests needed to qualify for graduation. They can do the work but don't.

Some teens just need more time to get through school. Attleboro High reported that for the class of 2008, 76.6 percent of students graduated on the regular four-year schedule. But counting those who took five years, the rate went up to 84 percent. Some teens, the majority of dropouts, leave school for non-school reasons. There are many such reasons: conflict at home, a need to work to help support the family, behavior problems, learning English as a second language, and pregnancy or parenting.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Massachusetts has a much better record than the country as a whole. The national dropout rate of 8.7 percent for 2007 was 2 1/2 times the state rate. Massachusetts regularly leads the nation in various education statistics and this is one of them.

Public schools long ago created alternative programs to accommodate the complicated lives of students who want to finish high school but who find the traditional school day and calendar unworkable.

Even more such programs were created in Attleboro in the last year including a night school and a joint program with Bristol Community College and The Literacy Center.

These programs work for some students, and every diploma awarded is an accomplishment. If they don't work for others, there are additional opportunities to earn a General Education Development - GED - certificate in programs for older teenagers and adults such as those offered by The Literacy Center.

The push for legislation requiring students to stay in school until 18 is, frankly, something of a smokescreen. As Attleboro High School Principal Jeffrey Newman said recently, most AHS dropouts are already 18. They've typically struggled for years, gotten behind and finally aged out of the high school scene. The law won't affect them.

The state's plan to raise the compulsory school age to 18, as about 20 states have already done, probably has a lot to do with the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires continued increases in graduation rates in order to receive federal funds.

Local educators endorse this initiative called for by a special Massachusetts commission, even if they're skeptical the state will provide funds for the new programs that are supposed to go with it.

I expect the law will be enacted in 2010, an election year, amidst lots of hoopla, but if it proves not to have much effect on the dropout rate I won't be surprised.

Meantime, educators can take pride in what they're already doing to help at-risk teenagers get that diploma that can make such a difference in later life. NED BRISTOL is a member of The Sun Chronicle Editorial Board and a former editor of the newspaper.