The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to an
education that develops their “personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest
potential.” According to the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) (2011), an estimated 1.3
million American high school students drop out every year; a disproportionate number of whom
are youth of color.
The nation’s children are its future workers, citizens, and leaders. Education remains the major
tool by which people become empowered and the economic, social, and personal well-being of
all citizens in a pluralistic society increases. A high dropout rate diminishes the pool of qualified
people from diverse backgrounds who will enter the professional and political ranks that make
important public policy decisions(APA, 1996). The mission for every school should be to
educate students to equip them to become “knowledgeable, responsible, socially skilled, healthy,
caring, and contributing citizens” (Greenberg et al., 2003).