Kentucky No Pass / No Drive Law

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I believe that this measure has the potential to help the educational systems. However, my belief is that it will likely contribute to a growing divide between "academic all-star schools" and poverty-ridden schools. This separation has been evident since before the No Child Left Behind Act, and is certainly a problem. A few reasons:

1) Schools with excellent academic and attendance records whose students generally are on top of the academic game and may or may not need to work full-time to support their families will retain their students.

2) On the other hand, schools who already have tremendous attendance and/or academic performance issues won't be drastically improved by such a measure.

3) It's not always about the entire state - every student counts. What if a student relies on public transportation to get to school, and commutes an hour each way, every single day? Losing something they never had won't motivate them, it will only act as a scolding factor, a "you're not good enough" message on top of any insecurity they may be feeling in failing a class, or the pressures of having to support a family.

The concept is very well intentioned and I'm glad it is on their minds, I am just concerned for the students that have more to worry about than that piece of plastic in their pocket.