Requiring Maryland students to remain in school until they turn age 18 could drastically reduce dropout rates but would cost the state $200 million a year and worsen the existing shortage of teachers, classroom space and other resources, according to a new report.

A yearlong study by a statewide task force of 50 educators, community leaders and legislators recommended raising the public school compulsory attendance age from 16. Maryland law allows students to drop out at age 16 with parental permission.

Baltimore lawmakers have been pushing the change for four years, but it didn't get to a vote in the General Assembly because of concerns over what it would cost.

State Sen. Catherine E. Pugh, a Baltimore Democrat sponsoring a bill to raise the attendance age, said she believes that the study, which provides more data on what steps schools should take and what it would cost, has provided momentum to change the compulsory attendance age.

Committee members who got their first look at the 112-page report last month said they were encouraged to learn that 27 states and the District of Columbia have pushed up the mandatory age to 17 or 18.

Some of the results in the study have raised concerns. State Sen. Jim Rosapepe, a Democrat from Prince George's County, said he was disappointed that few other states could prove that raising compulsory attendance age directly contributed to lower dropout rates.

The report found that raising the compulsory attendance age was only one factor in lowering dropout rates. In some cases, other interventions could have helped improve students' chances of success in high school.

Among the proposals from the task force:

• Redefining the path to graduation by considering five years of high school for struggling students instead of four.
• Creating a uniform system of truancy courts in all systems to ensure students are staying in school until 18.
• Awarding alternative diplomas for non-English-speaking students that carry the same weight as traditional diplomas.
• Changing state law to allow students to earn General Educational Development diplomas without having to drop out first, as the current law requires.

Pugh also has submitted a bill that would allow students to remain in school while pursuing a GED diploma.

"Students need different paths to graduate sometimes," she said. "I don't see why students have to drop out of school before they take the GED. They don't need that blemish on their record."

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