Locked out of high school in Memphis, Hispanic boys are working construction jobs and taking pride in helping support their families, reports Chalkbeat’s Ian Round.
Will they return to finish high school diplomas or follow up on plans to attend community college? Probably not, says José Ayala, a college student and a counselor for Streets Ministries.
Ayala told Round that students need to learn about technical colleges and vocational certifications early in high school, before they drop out.
Mila Koumpilova, also a Chalkbeat reporter, looks at how school closures have widened education gaps for Black and Latino boys in Chicago. The pandemic has “has severed precarious ties to school, derailed college plans and pried gaping academic disparities even wider.”
I recommend reading the whole story, which focuses on three high school students whose futures were put at risk.