Boston-based Jobs for the Future today announced its participation in a national campaign to address America's education crisis.
STAND UP is a community- based coalition of more than 50 organizations, districts, and schools around the country, calling on all Americans to demand excellent high schools that prepare every student for college, work, and citizenship.
STAND UP is designed to mobilize parents, teachers, principals, community leaders, concerned citizens, business leaders, policymakers and philanthropists to become part of the solution.
The STAND UP Web site -- http://www.standup.org -- provides valuable information and resources to help make sure high schools are serving all students well.
JFF directly addresses this critical issue through a number of initiatives.
JFF has just released Making Good on a Promise: What Policymakers Can Do to Support the Educational Persistence of Dropouts.
Contrary to the popular notion that high school dropouts are unmotivated and do not value education, this new report finds that most dropouts are remarkably persistent in their drive to complete their education.
Yet for all their effort, less than 10 percent of those dropouts who enroll in postsecondary education earn a degree, a critical factor in securing a well-paying job in today's economy.
"Too often, schools do not keep them engaged in learning the first time around; then when they try to go back and complete their education the system provides inadequate options.
Anyone who demonstrates such persistence ought to have every opportunity to better themselves and contribute something positive to society.
And everyone deserves the quality education promised to them."
JFF also partners with the Youth Transition Funders Group in its multi-city Strategic Assessment Initiative for struggling students and out-of-school youth.
JFF partners with leaders in education, business, government, and communities around the nation to: strengthen opportunities for youth to succeed in postsecondary learning and high-skill careers; increase opportunities for low-income individuals to move into family- supporting careers; and meet the growing economic demand for knowledgeable and skilled workers.
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