Doing its part to help address the issue of nearly one-third of U.S.
high school students dropping out, AT&T
announced the launch of AT&T Aspire, a $100 million philanthropic
program, which includes job shadowing for 100,000 students nationwide,
to help strengthen student success and workforce readiness.
“In the U.S., 1.2 million students drop out of high school every
year. This has implications for individuals and for our nation’s global
economic leadership,” said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall
Stephenson, who will address the topic Thursday at the Economic Club of
Chicago. “AT&T Aspire is about supporting the great work already
underway to help our kids succeed in school, and helping students see
the connection between education and their best future.”
Through the Aspire initiative, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation
are committing $100 million (over four years, 2008 - 2011) toward high
school success and workforce readiness. The platform includes four key
elements:
- Grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on helping students graduate from high school and become better prepared for college and/or the workforce.
- A student job shadowing initiative,
involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours, that will give 100,000
students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in
the 21st century workforce. - The underwriting of national research
that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals,
superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the
high school dropout issue. - Support for 100 state and community Dropout Prevention summits, announced earlier this month by America’s Promise Alliance.
America’s Promise Alliance recently noted that nearly one-third of
U.S. high school students drop out before graduating — with about 7,000
students dropping out every school day, or one every 26 seconds. And,
March statistics from the U.S. Labor Department show that the 8.2
percent jobless rate for Americans with less than a high school
education is 60 percent higher than the overall jobless rate of 5.1
percent.
This issue has significant long-term implications for workforce
readiness and continued U.S. leadership in the global economy,
Stephenson said.
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, students who are
unprepared to enter college cost the U.S. economy more than $3.7
billion annually in lost earnings and remedial education costs. And,
according to the landmark study “The Silent Epidemic” by John
Bridgeland, a high school dropout earns, on average, $9,200 less a year
than a high school graduate and about $1 million less over a lifetime
than a college graduate.
$100 Million AT&T Aspire Program Will Fund Education, Workforce Grants
As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school
retention and workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire
program will support proven organizations that promote educational
success, from the classroom to the workplace.
Beginning this month, the AT&T Foundation — the corporate
philanthropy organization of AT&T Inc. — will solicit grant
proposals from schools and local organizations focused on high school
retention.
AT&T Launches Unprecedented Companywide Job Shadow Initiative
The company’s job shadowing initiative involves committing 400,000
employee volunteer hours to reach 100,000 students over the next five
years. The program will pair AT&T employees with students in grades
9-12 so that students can experience the world of work and see
firsthand the kinds of skills necessary to be successful in the
workplace.
“AT&T is uniquely positioned to inspire tomorrow’s workforce
through job shadowing,” said Bill Blase, senior executive vice
president, Human Resources for AT&T. “With more than 300,000
employees, we are ready to motivate students and show them what a
dynamic and diverse workplace is all about.”
AT&T will work with Junior Achievement to administer and execute
the effort. Junior Achievement is a recognized leader in job shadowing
and a key member of the National Job Shadow Coalition, which also
includes the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor
and America’s Promise Alliance. The AT&T program is the
largest-ever corporate job shadowing initiative Junior Achievement has
undertaken.
Job shadowing is a proven way to improve high school success.
According to Junior Achievement, 79 percent of students participating
in job shadowing report that the program increased their desire to stay
in school.
“We are thrilled that AT&T is joining forces with Junior
Achievement to address one of the biggest challenges facing our young
people and the businesses for whom they would work — lack of
work-readiness skills,” said Jack Kosakowski, executive vice president
and chief operating officer of JA Worldwide and president of Junior
Achievement USA. “This partnership makes the critical connection
between classroom lessons and the world of work so that students enter
the workforce ready to contribute and succeed.”
AT&T’s two major unions, the Communications Workers of America
and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, are supporting
the job shadowing initiative.
AT&T to Underwrite Landmark Research, Dropout Prevention Summits
Picking up where his seminal education study, “The Silent Epidemic,”
left off, John Bridgeland will turn his research to the perspectives of
teachers and school administrators on the high school dropout crisis,
including why students drop out, the barriers to keeping more students
engaged and effective strategies to ensure more students stay on track
to graduate. The research is being commissioned by AT&T and
America’s Promise Alliance.
“The statistics on our nation’s dropout crisis are alarming, and the
consequences of this crisis are devastating personally, socially,
economically and civically,” said Bridgeland. “This research will help
provide schools and communities with important new perspectives to
design policies and initiatives that will help address the dropout
epidemic.”
In addition, AT&T will help underwrite 100 state and community
dropout-prevention summits. Led by America’s Promise Alliance — the
nation’s largest partnership alliance working on behalf of children and
youth — the summits will be held in all 50 states. The summits will
increase public awareness of the dropout crisis, serve as a call to
action for all Americans and develop workable solutions to improve
graduation rates.
“Nearly one-third of all public high school students — and nearly
one-half of minority students — fail to graduate with their
classmates,” said Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of America’s
Promise Alliance. “Through our Dropout Prevention summits, we will work
closely with states and communities, listening to families, schools and
students to find the best ways to fight the growing dropout crisis —
and apply those lessons as quickly as possible.”
Stephenson said, “Investing in a well-educated workforce may be the
single most important thing we can do to help America remain the leader
in a digital, global economy.”