Evening star., 1963-01-15
AREA DROPOUT RATES

Prince Georges -----------.
offer an employer, and many
doors are closed to him.
In the District, the Federal
Government requires a high
school education for its jobs,
and cannot hire him. Only Is
per cent Of Washington'S pri-
vate businesses have any posi-
ton open to youths under l8
years old, according to a study
by the United States Employ
ment Service.
So where can the dropout go?
One place is into the non-un-
ion trades. Unlike most union
apprenticeship programs, they
do not require q high school
diploma.
One non-union employer ex-
planned his policy this way:
We'll hire them for two rea-
sons: First, necessity, because
we just can't pay the wages to
attract others, and second, the
fact that the dropout is not
necessarily q bad employment
risk. We take them no matter
what their background as long
as they have the potential"
II don't think there's too
much validity in academic
standing and standards, as far
as the business world is con-
cerned. The business world is
set UP on competition, not aca-
demic values. If he has talent,
he can move up, perhaps even
to foreman, which pays about
$500 a year." he said.
Most employers interviewed
mentioned that in jobs which
included extensive training the
success Of dropouts was about
equal to that Of high school
graduates.
Urges Training
LYMAN Perlo, Job counselor
for the District schools Drop
outs, would like to see Subsi-
dization Of on-the-job training.
For as little as $4,000 and
a little effort" he said, you
can train so kids on nine tech
nical jobs for eight weeks, in
a tough work study program.
II they were employed and
each earned $2,500 a year, you
would get $125,e00 back into
the economy"
John D. Koontz, assistant
superintendent Of schools,
noted that work-study pro-
grams and finding jobs are ex-
pensive, but not nearly as
expensive as crime and welfare,
which usually are the result.
You either pay now or pay
much more later"
One work-study program is
the building maintenance
training class at Cardozo Senior
High School, Thirteenth and
Clifton streets NV.
This program is sponsored by
the Urban Service Corps. q
special part Of the school sys-
tenn financed by an anonymous
foundation. Headed by Benja-
min j. Henley, assistant super
intendent of schools, 1t cor
relates the efforts Of volunteers
and school officials on the drop
out problem.
Custodian Course
The Cardozo program, started
last March, gives remedial
reading and arithmetic to 20
potential school dropouts plus
training as building custodians.
Included in this Job training
program is teaching Of correct
job attitudes, grooming and
personal relationships.
The instructor is Leonard r.
Brown. a former custodian
with a teaching degree. He
describes his job as a combina-
ton Of teacher, counselor and
foster father. He shows the
boys which cleaners to use on
the various types Of floors. and
the most efficient way to clean
q room.
II laughed when he said he'd
show me how TO wash q win
dow and sweep a floor" one
boy In the class said. Any
body can take a broom and
sweep the floor, I figured. But
I found out. You do 1t better
and much faster his way"
This dropout prevention class
has one Of the best attendance
records in the school.
"A couple Of the boys origi-
nally were rebels. but now
they cooperate very WELL" Mr..
Brown said. when a boy sees
that somebody's interested in
him, he will respond immedi-
ately."
Most Of the boys, who work
as ianitors 20 hours a week In
District schools at $l.32 per
hour, are saving part Of their
earnings. The majority have
decided TO stay on in school un-
I'll after graduation. thus full
filling the primary purpose Of
the program.
Girls Need Help
But we're not even scratch
ing the surface with 20 boys,
said Mrs. Lucille L. johnson.
q counsellor at Cardozo. We're
not really moving on this drop
out prevention program. For in
stance. we have nothing for
girls, and we desperately need
q food service program for
them"
In the building maintenance
i