By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | An increase in high school students dropping out is prompting questions of what the state can do to stanch the rate.
“We can’t just let these kids keep falling through the cracks,” S.C. Rep. Lin Bennett told Statehouse Report. The Charleston Republican serves on the House Education and Public Works Committee. “I don’t think we need to drag our feet on it.”
The S.C. Department of Education released dropout data last month that showed a slight uptick in the rate of dropouts to 2.4 percent during the 2016-17 school year after consecutive years of a declining dropout rate. It has raised alarm bells for education advocates and lawmakers.