A bill before the Michigan Senate might give recent high school dropouts more flexibility to complete their education.
The bill would not affect graduation standards; it would change the way schools with alternative education programs are paid by the state.
Alternative education programs can provide flexible hours, child-care, transportation, and on-line education for students. The new bill would pay programs on a monthly basis rather than yearly.
Jeff MacNeil is with the Michigan Association of Community and Adult Education, a non-partisan group. He says the bill makes it easier for students to transfer between districts because state money follows them to the new district.
"If a student transfers to another district, and they're in this program, that other district would take over the mentorship and education of this student, but also receive the funding for it - which they wouldn't have gotten in the past."
State estimates show that about one in 10 students dropped out of high-school in 2011.
- Nishant Sekaran, Michigan Radio Newsroom
