drop column functionality

[Tim Dudgeon]

I'm looking to migrate an application to Derby as it appears to solve a 
number of performance issues I have with the current db.
But it looks like there is no ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN ... functionality. 
Is this really correct?
If so, it's a complete show stopper for me as I need to dynamically add 
and remove columns for tables. It's like being able to open a door, but 
not close it, like an airplane being able to take off but not land....

I see that there is a JIRA issue for this 
http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-1489?page=all
Is there an expectation for resolution?
Thanks

Tim