Editorial writers and citizens alike throughout the Equality State are abuzz over claims that, due to above-average pre-graduation attrition, two Wyoming high schools are "dropout factories."

The claims were made as part of a national review of high schools, which identified Rawlins High School and Wyoming Indian High School as the only two Wyoming "dropout factories." It should also be noted that I am the product of Rawlins High School, and take name-calling like this personally.

The study, conducted by a researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., calls any school not graduating more than 60 percent of its students a "dropout factory." According to the Associated Press, roughly 1,700 schools nationwide - one in 10 schools - fall into this category.

Rawlins High School retains and graduates only 58 percent - just shy of the 60 percent benchmark - while Wyoming Indian High School retains only 48 percent. It should be noted that Wyoming doesn't have nearly the dropout problem that many other states do. According to the study, Wyoming fell just behind North Dakota and Missouri but wasn't as dropout-rich as 34 other states.

I can't speak to the problems facing other states, but the dropout problem in Wyoming now seems born of simple economics. Let me explain.

The term "dropout factory" is very value-laden. The term "dropout" implies a future full of job security and white-picket fences has been foregone by young people wanting to make money in Wyoming's booming gas and oilfields. It also suggests that these students will never go back to complete their educations.

More to the point, what does it matter?  I know just as many bad citizens with degrees as I do good citizens without. A high school diploma doesn't guarantee anything anymore.  

Some students are born to drop out. I'll leave the basis for that to the experts, but it isn't the result of any one variable. It is likely a combination of factors. When academic pursuits are not encouraged in the home, for example, or when parents don't encourage their kids to read, it can be tough for students to get excited about homework. While I believe every student has the potential to succeed, there may always be a small minority of students for whom scholastic success was never in the cards.

Others are leaving for other reasons, including jobs that pay far better than minimum wage out in the Red Desert where Wyoming is witnessing the 21st-century equivalent of a gold rush. Those jobs are not easy but they do pay well. It's tough to deny the allure of a big paycheck, made bigger with overtime pay, to a teenager. It's even tougher to criticize it.

I'm no economist, but I find no problem with people wanting to make money. The School of Hard Knocks may be every bit as educational as the Ivy League - maybe more so - though, in terms of income power, college educations always bear out in the long run.

Many people, however, prefer not to wait for the long run. While I am in no way holding up those who leave school early as examples for all to follow, I suggest it is not necessarily a bad thing and does not suggest a failed education system.

In today's world, the failure of an education system is high unemployment. With kids leaving high school to make money, as some state officials suggest, it doesn't show failure in the classroom. It shows that some students are tempted by economic activity less than a day's drive away from their homes.

When, not if, the Jonah Field and all its cousins dry up and the high-paying field jobs evaporate, the dropout rate will recede a bit. Again, I'm no economist but this is simple economics. People will stay in school in the absence of something better to do.

Frankly, were it not for the state's pervasive meth addiction, lucrative jobs might not otherwise be available to tempt young people out of schools. In a strange way, by removing from the labor force a swath of 20- and 30-somethings unable to pass the requisite drug test needed for a job, Wyoming's unchecked drug problem is contributing to a robust job market for teens and to the decline of graduation rates.

There is a value in education. No one can deny that, but there is also value in hard work. I can't fault students wanting to take advantage of the high-paying jobs awaiting them in the Red Desert because I know full well such jobs won't be around forever. Market forces have a way of balancing themselves.

The smart kids taking their chances in the oilfield are the ones who will save their money and put it toward an education when Wyoming's energy bubble inevitably bursts. That is the measure of an educational system's success.

Researchers will continue to use catchy terms like "dropout factories" to make their dusty academic work seem exciting to reporters. There is nothing we can do to stop that.

However, they should be mindful that sticks and stones may break our bones but name-calling will not improve the education system. Nor will it change the economic choices available to modern teens.



Doug Hecox is a professional writer whose works have appeared in the Washington Post, UWyo Magazine and quality newspapers throughout the Rocky Mountains. For more information, visit www.dougfun.com