IL Senate Pres. Cullerton & Maj. Leader Currie to Address New Dropout Data

What: 

Illinois State Senate President John Cullerton and General Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie will join other legislative and educational leaders today for a policy forum focused on a new report that details how the employment and earnings prospects of high school dropouts continue to decline, leaving uneducated young adults increasingly vulnerable to labor market vicissitudes.

Latino dropouts -- particularly males -- have been faring the worst over the past few years, even as Latinos' influence in the voting booth has been on the rise, according to the report, High School Dropouts in Chicago and Illinois and Their Persistent Labor Market Problems. Commissioned by the Alternative Schools Network in Chicago and prepared by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., the report is being released today at the forum, Home Grown Solutions: Policies and Programs to Re-Enroll Out of School Youth.

Convening co-sponsors of the forum include the Chicago Urban League, Youth Connection Charter School, the Alternative Schools Network, WTTW 11 Chicago, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Illinois Network of Charter Schools and the Illinois State Council on Re-Enrolling Students Who Dropped out of School. More than 300 education, civic, business and community leaders will attend presentations by the key speakers and a moderated panel discussion.

Who:

Speakers and participants will include:

• John Cullerton, Illinois State Senate President
• Barbara Flynn Currie, Illinois General Assembly Majority Leader
• Jesse Ruiz, Chicago Board of Education member and State Council Chair
• Andrea Zopp, Chicago Board of Education member and Urban League President & CEO
• Elizabeth Brackett, "Chicago Tonight" Correspondent
• Sheila Venson, Executive Director, Youth Connection Charter School
• Matthew Rodriguez, Principal, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School
• Juan Salgado, President & CEO, Instituto del Progreso Latino
• Myra Sampson, Principal, CCA Academy
• Jack Wuest, Executive Director, Alternative Schools Network
• Keisha Davis-Johnson, Principal, West Town Academy

When:

8 a.m. to noon, Monday, December 10, 2012

Where:

The Union League Club of Chicago 65 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL

Why:

High School Dropouts in Chicago and Illinois and Their Persistent Labor Market Problems is part of an ongoing series reporting on the consequences of dropping out of high school and the benefits gained by encouraging them to re-enroll and complete their diplomas. To obtain a full copy of the report go to www.asnchicago.org.