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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 15, 2013 11:33 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Dan Moul |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Amending the Public School Code regarding compulsory school age and exceptions to compulsory attendance. |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation which amends the Public School Code regarding compulsory school age and exceptions to compulsory attendance. Currently, state law allows a student to withdraw from school at the age of sixteen to engage in “any useful and lawful employment or service”. This provision has allowed a number of students to “drop out” of school without acquiring a high school diploma or its equivalent. This lack of a high school diploma, or its equivalent, can cripple both a student’s prospects for finding future employment, and their ability to contribute positively to society. My bill specifically amends the definition of “compulsory school age” to increase the compulsory age range from the current eight-to-seventeen years of age to eight-to-eighteen years of age. The bill also adds a provision to the employment exception to compulsory attendance to require a student who withdraws from school for the purpose of engaging in outside employment to actively pursue a Commonwealth secondary school diploma. Additionally, the bill provides a definition of a “Commonwealth secondary school diploma” (mirroring current language in regulations on this topic) which delineates two pathways to obtaining the Commonwealth diploma: satisfactory completion of one full year (or thirty semester hours) of study at an accredited institution of postsecondary education, or earning a passing score on a GED test. Finally, the bill requires the State Board of Education to promulgate regulations regarding the requirement that a student who withdraws from school for the purpose of engaging in outside employment must actively pursue a Commonwealth diploma. I believe that increasing the compulsory school age range to include eighteen year old students and requiring students that withdraw from school to actively pursue a Commonwealth secondary school diploma will make “dropping out” harder and increase the number of students who ultimately obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent. |
Introduced as HB2037