European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 16, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7educators alarmed by drop in number of adults passing High school ged test Washington apr fewer dropouts Are receive i eng High school equivalency certificates either because icy Are unable to pass the general educational development tests or because they do not bother to take them according to a new study. The drop in the number of people taking and passing the test combined with the limited gains in the nations High school graduation rate Are a cause for deep concern Douglas r. Whitney director of the ged testing service sponsored by the american Council on education said monday. Individuals dropping out of High school now will form a Large part of the work Force for the next 50 years or More a said Whitney. A for them the ged is i an Avenue toward productive employment and Partick paring in the life of the nation. A your failure to help these dropouts resume their education threatens our continued social Progress and economic Prosperity a he said. The ged tests usually Are taken by adults who did not Complete High school but who want to demonstrate that they have acquired a level of learning comparable to that of High school graduates. Passing the tests usually qualifies adults for better employment As Well l As pos secondary education. The councils annual report on the ged program said that 13.4 percent fewer ged diplomas were issued last year in the United states its territories and Canada than the previous year. The number fell to 376,879 last year from 435,318 in 1988. The number of people taking the test fell 7 percent last year to 682,728, from 1988, the report said. Average age of the test takers was 26.2 years and the highest year of schooling completed was the Sophomore year of High school. The report showed that More than 31 percent of the 1989 lest takers were 19 years old or younger 38 percent were Between 20 and 29, 18 percent were Between 30 and 39 and about 11 percent were older than 40. Also nearly 54 percent reported they were planning to continue their education or training beyond High school. The number of people taking the tests dropped by about 19 percent in Kentucky Indiana about i8 percent Michigan about 19 percent and Ohio about 16 percent. Officials said the reduction could be partly explained by a general decline in population. However officials said shifting demographics would not explain Why growing states such As California Arizona and Texas issued fewer ged diplomas in 1989, while Pennsylvania with a stable population showed a significant increase. The drop in California and Arizona was about 18 percent and about 17 percent in Texas. The increase in Pennsylvania was 19 percent. Fourteen other states also had increases in the number of ged diplomas issued with a 71 percent gain in Maine and a 16 percent gain in Florida. Wayne patience ged associate director said the tests were revised in 1988 to include an essay and questions that lest higher level thinking skills. He said Only 68.4 percent of those tested in 1989 met the score requirements for earning a ged diploma Down from 72.4 percent in 1988 and 74.1 percent in 1987. The education department recently reported a one year decline in the nations graduation rate after Only slight improvements in the past 10 years. The annual Survey showed that High school completion Rales slipped from 71.7 percent in 1987 to 71.1 percent in 1988. The 1980 census reported that More than 51 million adults did not have a High school diploma. The number is expected to be greater when the census Bureau issues its reports for 1990 next year. Barrys wife to promote . At Cannes festival by the Washington Post 1 Washington a Effi Barry the wife Foff District of Columbia mayor Marion Barr it a will attend the Cannes film festival Lin France this week at taxpayers expense f the mayors office said monday. Lurma Rackley barrys press Secretary a said the City estimates that the 8-Day stay at itch famed film festival would Cost $2,000 land that . Funds would pay for some of Jeand perhaps All of the Cost Al Rackley said the trip which began Mon i Day will give Effi Barry an Opportunity to promote Washington As a movie making a site for International film producers. A was first lady she docs the ambassador ship role very Well a Rackley isaid. A people like her a lot she a got a lot of of Public relations  i a source in Cannes told the Washington Post that Marion Barry intended to accompany his wife to France but then Quot changed his mind late last week and in Stead scheduled a Brief Holiday in the United states for this weekend. On thursday a Federal grand jury Here re turned six additional cocaine Possession charges against the mayor. Jj1 Barry told a reporter last week before the indictment was returned that he thought it would appear inappropriate for him to travel to Cannes with so Little time left before his scheduled june 4 trial on charges of cocaine Possession and lying under oath to a grand jury. The mayor who Nas said in recent weeks that he planned to spend More time with his wife and their 9-year-old son Christopher plans to take this thursday and Friday off for a Short holi Day administration sources said. Rackley said Effi Barry will be part of an entourage that includes two or three City officials from the . Office of motion picture and television development one of the smallest agencies in . Government. The office established 10 years ago is charged with promoting Washington As a site for film and television production. Last year the film Industry generated More than $20 million in a increased economic benefits Quot to the District Rackley said. He added that while government funds would be used to pay for some of the Cannes trip it was possible that private donations were helping to underwrite the Cost. The mayors spokeswoman said that the unusually Low Cost of the trip a an estimated $550 per Day a was made possible because the party will be staying at hotels and travelling at government rates. Newly ordained King Coretta Scott King widow of the slain civil rights Leader embraces her youngest daughter Bernice Albertine monday night after the 27-year-old woman delivered her first Sermon As an ordained Baptist minister. Kings service delivered from the same pulpit at Atlanta a Ebenezer Baptist Church used by her father Drew More than 300 people. King is the Only one of her fathers four children to go into the ministry. She also graduated monday from Emory University with doctorates in Law and divinity. Team toils to untangle secret Detroit a red file Detroit apr a team of six people is toiling in a Small suite of offices unlocking the secrets of three decades of governmental paranoia. The quasi librarians have begun what promises to be months of scrutinizing the disorganized files of the Detroit police departments red squad a product of the Mccarthy Era Hunts for suspected communist sympathizers. The files containing about 1.5 million names were released after the City and a group of plaintiffs settled a 16-year-old lawsuit. The plaintiffs argued that they were subject to illegal police surveillance starting in the mid-1940s and continuing into the mid-70s. Finally in 1974, mayor Coleman a. Young first ordered the surveillance halted. The red squad notification and distribution compliance program was set up As part of a settlement approved last week by Wayne county circuit judge Lucile a. Watts. Since then the program has received 300 to 500 requests for applications to receive files contained in boxes and file cabinets in the offices said its director Dorian Paster. A the requests arc coming relatively thickly a he said monday. A we Are in the file room and getting  the task May Lake months. Paster said. The files will not be available to the general Public but people who were spied on May receive copies of their dossiers. Before releasing any information Paster said names of police officers informants and any unsubstantiated information from a third party will be deleted. The workers Are plunging into a haphazard filing system of reports newspaper stories photographs and other information assembled by the red squad. The Lack of organization of Many of the files has raised pastern a eyebrows. Quot it was a very thorough operation a he said of the Early Days of the squad. �?o1 have a suspicion that that broke Down in later years. It seems that some material was  but Paster wont know if that a the Case until the files Are sorted. A it is at Best a difficult task a he added. Some of the people helping Paster sift through the files were themselves onetime targets of the squad. A by having people like that involved it would go toward assuaging some of the fears of the people who arc applying he said. Quot the applications will not be seen by the  the primary focus of the squad was to gather information about people suspected of having ties to the communist party. The number of names in the squad poses a considerable problem a a it a amazing How Many Small people Are the subject of a file a he said. A one of the things 1 ran across in a couple of cases now is address books or other books that were either lost or stolen. They started a file on every name in that  also hampering the teams work is the nature of the program itself. A part of the problem is that 1 can to name any names or organizations and bring that information to the Public a Paster said. Quot anybody who has the least suspicion that they May be covered by this should make an