Law Keeps Kids In School, On Road

Not long after being appointed to the state Senate in 1995, John Sandy discovered that Idaho’s dropout rate was the third highest in the country.

“It’s enough to make you embarrassed to be from Idaho,” he said Tuesday on a visit to Coeur d’Alene.

His chagrin, combined with an offhand remark, led to a law that takes away the driver’s licenses of high school dropouts.

It’s been in effect since last fall, and Sandy agrees it will take several years before the results of the educational experiment are in. But in districts that choose to enforce the law, school officials say it is clearly keeping some kids in the classroom.

“In my opinion, it’s very effective,” said Bill Brulotte, assistant principal at Coeur d’Alene High School. “It gives us a little bit more leverage to keep kids in school. I have not had one parent object to the whole thing.”

Colleen Kelsey, head teacher at Post Falls’ New Vision alternative school, said students are thinking twice about dropping out because they want to drive.

“I’m noticing that, when they enroll, they want very quickly some documentation that they’re in school,” she said.

The law requires every driver under age 18 to either be in school, or have a diploma or equivalency degree. Even before they can get a driver’s permit, they need a statement from their school that they are in class 90 percent of the time.

Sandy introduced the legislation. The Hagerman rancher has defended the idea against a barrage of editorials criticizing it, and school administrators worried about an increase in their workload.

It became law despite Gov. Phil Batt’s refusal to sign it.

From the governor’s perspective, Idahoans can legally quit school at age 16 and shouldn’t be punished for doing something that’s legal.

But Sandy sees driving as a privilege, and one worth withholding to achieve the important goal of education.

“The idea behind this is not to punish a kid, but to keep a kid in school if there is any way to do it.”

Sandy traces the law to a remark by Patti Ann Lodge, then president of the Idaho Federation of Republican Women.

Lodge is also a media specialist in the Caldwell schools.

When she heard Sandy bemoan Idaho’s high dropout rate, “She said ‘You know, if you want to get people’s attention there ought to be something you can do with driver’s licenses … That’s all the kids start talking about when they’re 12.”’

Sandy discovered that the idea wasn’t new.

“I zeroed in on West Virginia and Kentucky, where the legislation was along the line I was thinking, with exemptions and a hearing process.”

Much of the paperwork prompted by the law is handled by the Idaho Department of Transportation.

The department will get a full-time employee to handle the additional workload next year. But Sandy said the driver’s license program will be less than half of the responsibilities of that person, whose salary and expenses come to $51,000.

The cost of keeping one person in prison - where many of dropouts end up - is around $50,000, he said.

School districts aren’t penalized if they don’t participate in the program. Some have ignored it.

“It has had a real slow takeoff,” said Jane Caviness, state manager of driver services. “A lot of small schools were not aware of what’s going on.”

But the number of dropouts reported to the department has grown steadily with each month, for a total of 419 statewide through February.

The Coeur d’Alene School District has spread the word about the law through handbooks and letters, said Dale Roberts, assistant principal at Lake City High.

Still, he said, “It doesn’t mean anything until they run into it.”

Roberts recalled complimenting one young man for coming back to school after dropping out last fall. He learned that the student had come back so he could get his license. He’s only missed one day of school this semester.

The driver’s license suspension law is only one small part of solving the dropout problem, Sandy said.

“I’ll be the first in line to get rid of the thing if it doesn’t work.”

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition

Two sidebars appeared with the story: 1. THE LAW The law requires every driver under age 18 to either be in school, or have a diploma or equivalency degree. Even before they can get a driver’s permit, they need a statement from their school that they are in class 90 percent of the time.

2. SUSPENSIONS From October through February, the Idaho Department of Transportation received 419 letters asking that driver’s licenses be suspended because students had dropped out of school. Of those teenagers, 27 went back to school or got an equivalency degree before they lost their licenses. Another 14 had their driving privileges restored after they complied with the law. School districts aren’t penalized if they choose not to participate. These are the numbers of suspensions reported by North Idaho school districts before March 1: Benewah, 0 Bonner, 9 Boundary, 0 Coeur d’Alene, 46 Kootenai, 0 Kellogg, 19 Lakeland, 16 Post Falls, 17 Mullan, 0 Wallace, 1