Lincoln High School principal Scott Mendelsberg’s heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, his plan to send his students to college isn’t.
Mendelsberg has promised to send 100 Lincoln graduates to Community College of Denver in the fall using state money earmarked for K-12 education.
His imaginative scheme twists a Colorado law that guarantees an education for anyone up to 21 years old. By withholding their diplomas, he figures the law applies to college, too. He wants to use the roughly $6,500 in state and local tax money given to schools each year for each student to cover the cost of community college tuition. But the law was designed to provide a high school education for those late bloomers who, for whatever reason, found themselves at 19, 20 or even 21 without a diploma.
“This is absolutely not OK,” said Vody Hermann, director of public school finance for the Colorado Department of Education. She said they’ll “probably withhold funding from those kids.”
Mendelsberg says he created the program to give students hope and to put college within everyone’s grasp. It’s working. Last year, only 17 percent of Lincoln’s graduates went on to college. This year, 63 percent are headed to college, most through this program.
But the pot of state money he plans on tapping is meant to educate kids in K-12, not college. The state has another, albeit dwindling, pot that pays for college.
Mendelsberg’s plan sheds light on an important Colorado dilemma: How do we get more of our students into college?
Community colleges are a good step. They’re more affordable than traditional four-year schools and are more flexible for students working through college.
Tax credits are available for some low-income families that would almost cover the entire cost of tuition at a community college, but many students don’t know it. Community colleges can often end up being free, given the amount of aid available.
“You can get a financial aid package that also pays living expenses,” said Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System. “Our mission is about access and increased opportunities. “If this program [at Lincoln] doesn’t work out, we’ll do whatever we can to provide these students with the financial aid to go to college.”
Lincoln’s principal is thinking outside the box, which is important, but he should explore other ways to get these students into college.
