Dropouts aren’t always criminals

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

There's no doubt the Las Vegas Valley has its share of juvenile delinquents and that its schools have a high dropout rate.

But is there a correlation between these social problems? Does dropping out of school lead to criminal activity?

Or should we look at these destructive behaviors as independent symptoms of the same problem? That problem, so pervasive in Las Vegas, is the lack of guidance and support for many of our youth growing up with irresponsible or absentee parents.

The link between high school graduation rates and crime was discussed by Metro Sheriff Douglas Gillespie and Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes, who, during a Sept. 25 news conference, released recent national research on the topic.

High school dropouts are 3 1/2 times more likely than graduates to be arrested and eight times as likely to be in jail or prison, one study found.

Gillespie and Rulffes argued that in Nevada, improvements to early education, such as more access to preschool programs and full-day kindergarten, would better prepare students to succeed in grades first through 12th. They said this would reduce the dropout rate and, therefore, the crime rate. Other officials say the expansion of vocational education programs will help reduce the dropout and crime rates because these programs serve students who don't fit in with traditional academic programs.

We're not sold on the idea that every kid who drops out of school is destined to become a criminal. Many of these young people start breaking the law during their middle school years and continue getting into trouble with police as high school students before dropping out of school. And on the flip side, there are some youth who drop out of high school and go on to live productive, crime-free lives.

Improving our schools will reduce the dropout rate — an important goal in and of itself. If this reduces the crime rate even slightly, that's a nice side benefit.

Even in tough budgetary times, legislators and the governor should stop cutting funding for Nevada schools.