Some teachers are calling the high school drop out problem a silent epidemic.

National studies show every 29 seconds another students quits school. Thousands of those kids will come from the Mountain State. Kanawha County school leaders are working to address the dropout problem. This year each of the 8 local high school added a graduation coach. They serve as teachers, counselors and friends to at risk students. Their job is to see those kids to graduation. The county is also placing more focus on alternative programs like career and technology schools.

Last year more than 500 students dropped out of the local high schools. No other county in the state had more. Catch our two part series on The Crisis in the Classroom. Wednesday and Thursday on Eyewitness News

Interested in seeing how your kids schools measure up against the rest of the state? Check out their State Report Card at http://wveis.k12.wv.us/nclb/pub/rpt0708/pickreportcard.cfm