Senate Bill S1437

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S1437

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to increasing the
compulsory school age to eighteen and extending age eligibility to
under twenty-two years


 PURPOSE :

To amend the compulsory education statute to require that students in
all districts attend school until the end of the school year in which
they turn 18. Also, to increase the age of eligibility for public high
school to under 22, to avoid the preclusion of eligible students who
currently "age out" of the system from completing their degree.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Amends paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 3205 of the education
law to increase the statewide compulsory education age from 16 to 18.
Amends subdivision 3 of section 3205 to give the board of education
the responsibility of determining if minors between 16 and 18 can be
excluded for having passed high school equivalency examinations.
Amends subdivision 1 of section 3202 of the education law to increase
eligibility to attend public school from under 21 to under 22 years of
              

age.

 EXISTING LAW :

Currently the law requires students to attend school until the end of
the school year in which they turn 16, Current law also states that a
student over the compulsory attendance age may be dropped from
enrollment after 20 consecutive missed school days. The pupils "right
to re-enroll", regardless of the reason for their absences, is based
on the principal or superintendents judgement of the pupil's excuse
and whether in their opinion changes in the pupil's educational
program would encourage and facilitate his or her re-entry or
continuance of study.

Finally, current law determines that only persons under 21 are
eligible for public school.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The compulsory education age of 16 was set in 1894, an era of
different needs and priorities, when farming families needed their
children to begin work at an early age. The demands of modem society
have made the completion of further education, beginning with the high
school diploma, necessary to the well being of today's children.

Raising the compulsory education age to 18 increases the likelihood
that minors will complete their high school education by making it
more difficult for teenagers to give up on school and drop out.

Additionally, many pupils between the ages of 16-18 face personal and
familial situations that require their absence from school for an
extend period of time. In overburdened school districts many of these
students are denied re-entry under current provisions that allow
school officials to reject students that miss 20 consecutive days and
are unable to finish their high school degrees or pursue higher
education. Students who do gain re-entry are often unable to complete
their necessary requirements for graduation before they reach the age
of 21 and age out.


Increasing the compulsory attendance age to 18 would require schools
to readmit students absent for over 20 consecutive days without
deliberation. Raising eligibility for enrollment to under age 22 will
allow students who do continue their studies to finish their degrees
before aging out of the system.

This act will, therefore, extend the opportunity for persons capable
of attending school to avoid being precluded from completing their
high school education due to age or absence stipulations currently
mandated under the education law.

Long term, this act will help ensure a better quality of life for
minors who otherwise would have been forced out or had the option to
drop out of high school before graduating. This measure will also
ensure that students become productive members of society rather than
a burden on the economy of New York.

As the compulsory education law is fundamentally a child protective
statute, intended to ensure every child receive the schooling (s)he
needs to function in the adult world, an extension of the compulsory
school attendance age range to include all ages at which an individual
is considered a minor under the law (18), is appropriate.

Several other states have comparable compulsory school attendance
requirements. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, New Mexico,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, as well as
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and America Samoa have all
established 18 as the compulsory education age, recognizing that a 16
year old child does not have the maturity to make a decision that will
significantly affect their employment opportunities for the rest of
their lives.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

S.4686 - 2007/08  Referred to Education

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

Undetermined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become law.