A special state commission has recommended that the Massachusetts legal drop out age be raised from age 16 to 18.

About 10,000 Massachusetts students, some as young as 14, quit school every year. According to the most recent state data, 3.4 percent of students drop out in Massachusetts each year. Students can legally drop out by choice at 16, and at 14 students can withdraw with permission from the superintendent for medical reasons, for employment, or for non-wage work at home.

What happens when a 16-year-old drops out of school? Do they understand all of the consequences of what they are doing? At what age are they old enough to realize these consequences?

These are questions being considered by the Graduation and Dropout Prevention and Recovery Commission, who proposed the change. According to a study by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, each student dropout will cost the government more than $118,000 over their lifetime. The commission says that the change would lower the drop out rate and increase the number of students who graduate. In 2008, the graduation rate stood at 81% across the state.

The commission has also recommended other strategies to keep kids in school, such as hiring case managers to make the school experience more personal for students.

Another idea is to use standardized test scores and other data as early as elementary school to see whether a student runs the risk of not finishing high school. The Education Commission of Massachusetts believes these suggested plans will double enrollment in local high school alternative education programs, from 4,500 to 12,000.

WHS junior Katie Conley expressed support for such steps, saying, “I think that it is a good idea because having students feel like they relate to what they are learning will encourage them to stay in school and may even have them thinking about college.”

Junior Tommy Carmichael has a more pessimistic view. “I don’t think this will change anything,” he said. “If a kid wants to drop out of school, then he or she will drop out regardless. Most adults don’t understand the mindset of teens these days.”

If a law is passed, it is expected that it would be implemented starting April of 2010.

Kadeem Allen, a junior,  sees potential in reform: “I think it is a great idea so that students can have success in high school and go on to better things after high school.”