No, it hasn't. Your Chicken-Little hysteria isn't helping your case any.
The NEA did say that all our children should receive high school diplomas, because "To compete in the 21st century, all of our citizens, at minimum, need a high school education."
Do you agree or disagree that a high school diploma will be necessary to compete in the 21st century?
The idea for the graduation centers (which you have described as "prisons") is stated as follows:
Establish high school graduation centers for students 19-21 years old to provide specialized instruction and counseling to all students in this older age group who would be more effectively addressed in classes apart from younger students.
I think it's fairly obvious that having students aged 19-21 in classes with 14-15 year olds might not be such a good idea.
If you'll think for a minute, you might also realize that a 19-21 year old who hasn't been able to graduate (unless they are mentally retarded, in which case they are probably being served elsewhere) might have specific skills gaps which are preventing passing the GED or other tests, and which specialized or individualized instruction, as provided in these centers, could best remedy. (I recall you telling of tutoring a student in math, and being able to help him tremendously?)
Do you think some individualized help might enable some of these students to succeed?
Absolutely not. As was pointed out earlier on this thread, the Amish compete quite well without high school diplomas. Most new companies fail within three years of startup but Amish businesses have about a four percent failure rate in the first ten years.
Do you think some individualized help might enable some of these students to succeed?
You got that right. But the best "individualized help" is called "home schooling".