Educate Your Daughter

Educate a man and you educate an
individual. Educate a woman and you educate a family.

Rudy Mankin

March is Women's History Month, a month you don't hear too much about anymore. But now more than ever, the damaging results of poor treatment of the world's girls and women are in the forefront of the news.

The National Women's Law Center recently released a report called When Girls Don't Graduate We All Fail, highlighting the importance of keeping girls in school through to graduation. The drop out rate for girls is almost equal to that for boys, and in our state that rate is significant. As hard as it is to believe in this day of edutainment, America's overall drop out rate is nearly 22%.

Why is this statistic more damaging for girls than it is for boys? There are a couple of very important reasons.

First, the earning power of women who drop out of school is significantly less than that of men who drop out. Female drop outs are in greater danger of unemployment and being on public assistance.

Secondly, girls can get pregnant and guys can't. That means not only is the girl on public assistance, but also her offspring. This is bad for us taxpayers, but it is nothing compared to the damaging hardships it will cause the girl, her children, and her family.

We think the battle for women's rights is over now that we have a woman running for President. But, we need to think again. The woman's role in the family is key. She develops the tone of the family and, despite the bad raps Freudian psychiatrists give moms, they do play a crucial role in children's attitudes toward the importance of education. Keeping women educated, healthy, and functioning at a higher level advances the whole family.

Let's do what we can to keep our girls, and all of our students, in school and moving toward graduation. It will make for a stronger and better America.