Baldacci joins panel working to close achievement gap

WASHINGTON – Maine Gov. John Baldacci told an education conference Friday that state initiatives to improve student graduation rates are succeeding, but continuous support is needed to close the achievement gap.

Baldacci, chairman of Jobs for America’s Graduates, which co-hosted the conference with the National Urban League, joined education advocates and legislators to discuss methods for improving graduation and employment rates among at-risk black men.

“We believe there is a comprehensive approach to a solution, … and that is all of us working together,” Baldacci said at the event. “We cannot have any hands idle.”

Although Maine does not have a high percentage of minority students, the state’s diversity rate is growing and no students should be left behind, the governor said in an interview.

“In a knowledge-based economy where people are the most important resource, we cannot afford to have our kids sitting by idly,” he said.

Black students in the Jobs for America’s Graduates achievement program have above-average graduation rates, in stark contrast to those who are not participating in the program, which provides guidance and training for at-risk students, said Ken Smith, president of the organization.

On average, 90 percent of students in the program graduate from high school, including 94 percent of enrolled black men, Smith said.

“Most of these young people really do want to do the right thing,” he said. “We’re reversing the numbers.”

In Maine, addressing at-risk students in rural areas is a focus of the state’s Jobs for Graduates program. Maine’s program has been recognized as one of the most successful branches of the organization’s 30-state network, Baldacci said.

“There are a lot of similarities between rural America and urban America,” he added.

The state program reaches at-risk students in 50 communities, offering youths the support needed to graduate from high school and pursue career goals.

Baldacci said Maine’s Jobs for Graduates program is a success because it enables educators to reach out to students who need help most and ignite their desire to learn.

“I saw the engagement of the students [in the program] and the enthusiasm they had for education, knowing that these were kids who wouldn’t be in school otherwise,” Baldacci said. “It’s a program that works.”

Baldacci attended the education conference after visiting the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where Army Sgt., Brian Levensailor, who is from Dexter, Maine, is a patient.