The Department of Education unveiled a funding program Wednesday to keep 20,000 teens from dropping out of school each year. The "Drop Out Prevention Initiative" would provide $9 million to help combat the city's 32-percent drop-out rate. One way the money would be used is to help out those who have already quit school. "We teach vocational training and we help them get their GED, and then we find them get a job,” said Hector Batista of the Vocational Foundation, Inc. “We give them the skills necessary to be able sustain a job and that's what's good about this initiative; it allows organizations like mine to really work with this population. If we don't deal with them, we're going to deal with them in another area." The money, which needs to be approved by the City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, would be given to organizations that educate parents, students, and faculty about the problem.
5 years ago
