NEW LAW HELPS TO FIND STUDENTS WHO GET `LOST'

A Missouri law that went into effect this month requires high schools to report to state authorities the names of dropouts within their districts. This is a low-profile law that could pay, over the long term, some high dividends for these young people and the state. We hope area school districts take the statute to heart and make these reports in a timely manner.

The law, passed by the Missouri General Assembly last year, mandates that public and private schools report the name, address, phone number, birthday and withdrawal date of each student considered to be a dropout. The information can be reported to a state "Literacy Hotline." Using this data, state and local educators can provide the dropouts with information about adult education and ongoing learning opportunities.

Some of the work in this endeavor is already being done. In Cape Girardeau, the Area Vocational-Technical School has an Adult Basic Education Program that addresses many of the needs of these individuals. The new law provides the local educators with easier access to information about dropouts. The work under way is commendable: 30,000 Missourians over age 16 enroll in adult education classes each year. The new law can only help bolster that figure.

Still, there is plenty of work to be done. Approximately 365,000 Missouri adults are categorized as illiterate. This law might provide some form of tracking system for students who don't complete high school. If the situation is not right for these individuals to continue education at this time, the situation might change a couple of years from now; if adult education information could follow the person for that period, a lost student might be found.

Local schools do their best to identify and work with "at-risk" students. Occasionally, the efforts fall short or have no chance of success. When that happens, the state serves itself and its citizens by not simply "losing" those people. The educational opportunities for adults wanting to make up lost time are, for the most past, in place. With the new law, the state has done well to develop a mechanism that lets those people know what the opportunities are.