Dropouts: Life Tough Enough Many Oppose Plan To Take Away Driver’s Licenses

April Mossuto wanted to go to school, but she found it nearly impossible after getting pregnant in the ninth grade.

Now 20, Mossuto is working on her general equivalency diploma and hopes to start her own business one day.

She considers the Idaho Legislature’s plan to deny driving privileges to high school dropouts shortsighted. North Idaho has an annual dropout rate of 11.2 percent - that’s about 1,000 students per year who leave school prematurely.

While educators in general are behind the proposed law that’s awaiting Gov. Phil Batt’s signature, recent dropouts give it mixed reviews. For many, driving was not a factor in their decisions to drop out.

In the case of Mossuto - now a mother of four - losing her license wouldn’t have made a difference except to make life more difficult.

“My mom worked two jobs during the day,” she said as she prepared Tuesday for a GED writing test at North Idaho College. “She couldn’t drive me. I liked school a lot, but I had three kids.”

Mossuto’s eldest daughter has cystic fibrosis, requiring numerous doctor visits in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene. Although she tried to go back to school, whenever she left to go to the doctor, she was counted absent, she said.

“I did go back three different times,” she said. “They (teachers) didn’t know how to deal with it.”

The proposed bill offers exceptions to students for hardship reasons, but those exceptions would be granted on a case-by-case basis after a hearing with school officials.

Mossuto said what she needed to stay in school was better sex education. She even advocates passing out condoms in school, a practice that’s non-existent in North Idaho schools.

High school dropouts have opinions on the proposed law as varied as the reasons they quit school in the first place.

“I think it’s stupid,” said Ryan Pugh, 18, who was studying at NIC’s learning center. “People have the right to drop out of school if they want to. If they’re old enough, and their parents agree, they should be able to.”

Pugh was 15 when he dropped out. He didn’t have a driver’s license or a car - so driving, or making money for car payments, wasn’t an incentive to leave school.

Hilary Griffin, 18, dropped out of school in Post Falls when she was 15 and pregnant, before she had learned to drive. But cars did play a role in her problems at school.

“A lot of people I know with cars, they skip and they lose credit, and eventually drop out,” said Griffin. “I had a friend with a car. We’d skip and drive off.”

Chad Kline, now 19 and working on a GED, dropped out of school three years ago. He didn’t have a car, but he still thinks the new law may be a good idea.

“I wish I’d stayed in school,” said Kline. “If I had had a license and knew it would have been taken away, it would have made a difference.”

It’s kids like Kline that the proposed law is designed to influence. But whether it will make a dent in North Idaho’s large population of dropouts remains to be seen.

Many reasons contribute to a high dropout rate. Students are expelled because of too many unexcused absences. Some girls drop out because of pregnancy. A handful of students drop out to work full-time.

Later, they might find out about NIC’s learning center, where they can study for a GED free of charge. Help with child care is available, too.

Last year, 142 16- and 17-year-olds took the GED test through NIC. A total of 225 to 250 dropouts in that age group attended part of the program.

According to the proposed law, students involved in homeschooling, in a GED program, job training program or college are eligible to drive. But when a student drops out of school or is expelled, the school district is to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles.

People under the age of 18 must provide verification from their school district that they are in school or have a waiver from the requirement. Waivers would be provided by school officials after a hearing to determine whether the student has a personal hardship requiring a car for employment or medical care.

Advocates of the law believe that it adequately provides for exceptions in cases such as Mossuto’s.

“It’s pretty concise,” said Monica Beaudoin, president of the Idaho Education Association. “A student may be able to have it for work.”

All in all, Beaudoin believes the law will help keep kids in school.

“It’s an incentive for students to think about the choices they’re going to make - whether to choose to drive around on the sunny afternoons, or make sure they’re in school so they can maintain those driver’s licenses.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo