A bill that would raise the school dropout age in Kentucky from 16 to 18 by July 2018 passed the House today by a vote of 87-10.
House Bill 224, sponsored by House Banking and Insurance Chair Jeff Greer (D-Brandenburg) and Rep. Reginald Meeks (D-Louisville) now goes to the Senate for consideration.
“We need to send a message to our kids in our districts throughout this Commonwealth that we have expectations of you,” Greer said. Approximately 6,000 students drop out of high school each year in Kentucky on average, he said.
Kentucky’s compulsory school attendance age of 16 was set in 1920.
Today, a high school diploma is necessary to join the military and for
most types of employment, Greer said.
All 10 nay votes were from the Republican caucus, including Rep. Lynn Bechler of Marion.
Rep. Ben Waide of Madisonville, who was a youth minister at Marion United Methodist Church in the mid-1980s, also voted against the measure on the floor. He expressed concern with the bill in Tuesday's House Education Committee, "saying only five states that have raised their dropout age have had 'any appreciable increase' in graduation rates, and that the bill will cost money," reports the House Republican Caucus website.
Rep. David Floyd of Bardstown had a differing reason for his no vote. Floyd told The Courier-Journal that the decision to allow a child to dropout should still be left with the parents, since a student must still have parental permission between the ages of 16 and 18 to leave school.
