Oakland, CA–March 17, 2008.
Mills College students in Public Radio Reporting have won two Gracie awards for outstanding series and outstanding documentary for their radio series, "The Dropout Dilemma."

Presented by the Foundation of American Women in Radio & Television, the Gracie Awards recognize exemplary electronic media programming for, by, and about women.

PLUS: The eight students in Mills' Public Radio Reporting class earned second place for educational writing in radio from the National Awards for Education Reporting. The winners were announced this week by the National Education Writers Association, which represents professional education reporters and writers.

The only independent contest of its kind in the U.S., the annual competition honors the best educational reporting in print and broadcast media among professional journalists. The Mills students will be recognized on April 26 at the Education Writers Association's 61st National Seminar in Chicago.

This year’s public radio reporting class took on the subject of public education, studying financing, small schools, no child left behind, charter schools and budgeting reforms. When we stumbled on studies that show that more students may drop out of Oakland schools than graduate, we were shocked. That became the focus on our stories in a documentary called “The Drop Out Dilemma.”

The radio series featured eight reports on the alarming dropout rate in Oakland public schools. Originally broadcast on KALW 91.7 FM radio throughout the week of June 4, 2007, the special series was coordinated by Holly Kernan, Mills College lecturer and KALW news director. Mills students Carmen Aiken, Hallee Berg, Thea Chroman, Sandhya Dirks, Sarah Gonzalez, Jackie Kennedy, Melissa McDonough, and Shira Zucker reported, wrote, and produced the series.

Public reaction to "The Dropout Dilemma" was passionate. Radio listeners called and e-mailed KALW radio, asked how they could help the profiled high school students, and sent donations to support the students' graduation costs.

The radio series examined issues such as the small schools movement, stresses that cause students to drop out of school, the impact of vocational education, and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Schools featured in the documentary were: Oakland Aviation School, Emiliano Zapata Street Academy, the Castlemont Community of Small Schools, Oakland High School, Skyline High School, Elmhurst Middle School, and the Fremont Federation of Small Schools.

The Drop Out Dilemma

As students around the city take the stage to receive their diplomas, many others will quietly leave school without graduating. Oakland has the highest drop out rate in Alameda County. Studies show that more Oakland students will actually drop out than graduate. Here are the stories:

- From Mills College.