Question

by mila lewis january 25, 2012 in his recent state of the union address president obama called on states to require students to stay in school until age 18 or graduation. “when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma,” the president pointed out. this is the first time a president has weighed in on an issue that individual states are struggling to solve on their own and in their own ways. in general, the legal age for exiting pre - graduation has been getting higher over the years. it is now age 18 in 21 states plus the district of columbia, and age 17 in 11 other states. raising the age for exiting pre - graduation may not stop all dropouts, but it has a positive effect, according to new hampshire deputy commissioner of education, paul leather. “what it does is it sets the moral imperative so that students, parents, and educators become committed to the idea that each student will in fact graduate,” leather says. recently, new hampshire raised the age for exiting pre - graduation to 18. “what we found both in national and international research is that when you raise the compulsory age of education, the graduation and retention rates will in fact increase,” he says. since the federal government covers only around 10 percent of education financing, it is unlikely to be able to force states to adopt. however, for states wanting to receive special “race to the top” education grants, a higher pre - graduation exit age could be a requirement. the federal government may not be able to dictate individual state policy, but it can give states a strong incentive to make sure more students graduate. 5. what is the primary purpose of this article? to persuade readers that dropping out of school is necessary for some students to argue that the federal government should control education completely to criticize states for failing to enforce education laws to explain president obama’s proposal to raise the dropout age and its potential impact

Explanation:

The article starts by mentioning President Obama's call in the State - of - the - Union address to raise the dropout age. It then discusses the current situation of pre - graduation exit ages in different states, and the potential impact of such a change as noted by New Hampshire's Deputy Commissioner of Education. It does not advocate for dropping out, argue for federal government control of education, or criticize states for non - enforcement.

Answer:

To explain President Obama's proposal to raise the dropout age and its potential impact