Teen Mothers
In her excellent article “School Dropouts: New Data May Provide Elusive Clues” (Sept. 11) Elaine Woo referred, at the end, to a young gifted woman who, after marriage and a baby, was ready to try school again. It was the only reference to pregnant or parenting teens. Yet national statistics show that over 40% of young women who drop out of school give pregnancy or marriage as the reason.
According to the Washington, D.C.-based Equality Center, “These youngest of mothers very much need--but rarely get--a good education. Schools often freeze pregnant and parenting students out of the very education they need to support themselves and their families.”
Attending to this group by increasing services to pregnant and parenting teens could be an effective strategy in lowering the drop-out rate.
JUNE B. SMITH
Chair, Commission for Sex Equity
L.A. Unified School District
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