Historically the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) has been a safety net for at-risk students. But a spike in the number of students receiving GEDs has caused speculation that schools may be pushing out students in order to improve their own scholastic standing.

A May 15, 2004 New York Times article “More Youths Opt for GED Tests, Skirting the Hurdle of High School,” reported that the number of high school students enrolled in GED programs has skyrocketed in recent years, with high school students earning 49 percent of them.

Students who may not have enough credits to graduate by their fourth year in high school, slow learners and those who are often absent from classes are among those who are redirected to alternative education programs such as the GED.

Eighty-five percent of California’s public school students are required to take a standardized test in order to graduate. By filtering out students who do not attend classes regularly and who would not do well on those tests, schools would improve attendance, performance and therefore funding as well.

Public schools receive their primary funding based on students’ average daily attendance (ADA) as well as their standardized test scores.

The STAR, one of such tests, is used in California. Schools lose money on a daily basis for students who are absent, and those who are continually absent statistically do worse on standardized tests, which compounds funding problems.

Chance High School, a private school aimed at preparing students for the GED and beyond, hosts many students who have problems that “have not been addressed or even detected (at public schools),” commented principal Spencer Tulliver. Because these issues were not dealt with at the students’ public schools, the students were not able to fulfill their potential or help the school in terms of standing.

“By law you can’t force a student out of a public school,” said Tulliver. “On the other hand, in terms of students receiving guidance to take the GED, I could see that.”

School administrator Eric Rozell of Youth Chance High School added that students may not have felt literally pushed out. But since they were not provided with the necessary attention or resources to achieve, and eventually “they were pushed out.”

Rozell says that if public schools had fulfilled their role as educators, then schools like Youth Chance would not be necessary.

BAMMA is a summer journalism camp for high school students coordinated by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism through the journalism department at SF State. For more information or comments on BAMMA, please contact Cristina Azocar.