Oct. 5, 2006 — A bill establishing preventive programs to help curb student dropout rates won the support of senators but was contested during Wednesday's Education, Youth and Culture meeting by representatives from the Education Department and Board of Education.
Called the Dropout Prevention Act of 2006, the bill authorizes the Legislature to appropriate funds to the Education Department to implement the programs to target teenage mothers, children with disciplinary problems and students struggling with low grades and drug abuse, among others.
The department in turn will award grants to nonprofit entities that choose to implement the programs and develop a manual identifying the programs available in each district.
While applauding the bill's intent, Education Commissioner Noreen Michael questioned whether or not the programs would be voluntary, how they would be regulated and whether there was enough classroom space available to conduct the workshops.
She added that Education would also have to be given enough time to implement the programs, conduct research and training, and develop a process which would hold the school districts accountable for program operations.
Carol Henneman, executive director of the Board of Education, added that both the department and other entities offering the programs would have to be given enough "money, human power and physical space" in order for the initiatives to be effective.
"We have programs and bills that don't see the light of day in this territory because we don't fund them properly," she said. "And not having the human power necessary to implement the programs, or the space, means nothing's going to happen."
Henneman also applauded the intent of the bill, however, and said it could be used to "open a dialogue" with students about the importance of staying in school.
"We can especially use the bill to spur a discussion with our young men," she said. "Because there's a pattern developing, and if we don't do something about it soon, we're going to lose our boy children to prison or the grave."
Henneman said that dropout rates in the territory, especially among young males, are "astronomically" high.
"We start to see the problem in the fourth grade, when the students' reading level begins to increase," she explained. "It becomes more of a problem in the seventh grade, and by the time we get to ninth grade, we're in a catastrophic state."
Despite the concerns raised by both Michael and Henneman, Sens. Roosevelt C. David, Liston Davis, Juan Figueroa-Serville, Louis P. Hill and Shawn-Michael Malone voted to approve the bill on Wednesday.
Sen. Ronald E. Russell was absent when the vote was taken.
Sen. Neville James was absent during the meeting.
Senators also passed a bill increasing the number of board members for the V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute and another establishing a Math and Science Initiative Fund to award bonuses to math and science teachers and scholarships to students interested in pursuing those fields of study.
A sum of $1 million from the government's debt service reserve will be deposited annually into the fund.
Bonuses and scholarships awarded shall not exceed $10,000. According to the bill, students who have been awarded a scholarship must return to the territory and teach within the public school system for at least two years.
In other news, a bill to restructure and "decentralize" the Education Department was held in committee Wednesday.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Lorraine L. Berry, creates two "independent" school districts and places more power in the hands of the insular superintendents, responsible for handling day-to-day affairs.
"The Department of Education will continue to be part of executive branch with a commissioner at the head," Berry said. "But, the superintendents will not report directly to the commissioner."
Berry added that decentralizing the department cuts down on Education's "hierarchy of authority."
"The structure has to change to make the department more efficient," she said.
While many senators said they supported the idea of restructuring the department, many felt it necessary to get "input" from community members, teachers, union representatives and government officials with regards to the bill's impact.
Present during Wednesday's meeting were Sens. Roosevelt C. David, Liston Davis, Juan Figeroa-Serville, Louis P. Hill, Shawn-Michael Malone and Ronald E. Russell.
Noncommittee members Berry and Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste were also present.
Sens. Neville James was absent.
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