"We must find other venues for these students."

THE IMPACT OF DROPPING OUT

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, if the 59,000 Georgia dropouts from the class of 2008 had graduated, their collective earnings would have increased by over $15 billion over the course of their lifetime. Given the tremendous financial drag these dropouts impose on Georgia’s economy, it is imperative that the state government, as well as the federal government, focus attention on those in need of a second chance. In Georgia, an estimated 64,052 students from the class of 2009 failed to graduate on time with their peers - that is the equivalent to the population of a small city. 45,000 of those dropouts resided in the Atlanta area. We must find other venues for these students. 

    If we continue to fail to support them, we erode our workforce, deplete our financial resources, and threaten our chances at long-term economic stability. We must begin to graduate, train, and educate every individual possible - now. The large numbers of students who are dropping out of high school each year present more than an educational challenge. Mass amounts of students dropping out of high school results in increased costs for the individual and for the state as well.

 

 

• Over a lifetime, a high school dropout pays about $80,000 less in taxes than a high school graduate. 

•The average annual income for a high school dropout in 2012 was $24,492. With a high school diploma, that figure shoots to $33,904.
• High school graduates were 50% more likely to be employed than high school dropouts in 2012. Over their lifetime, a worker with a diploma will earn $400,000 more than a worker without one. 
•Those who graduate from high school on average live more than 12 years longer than high school dropouts due to factors that include occupational safety and access to health insurance. 
• The U.S. economy could lose more than $3 trillion during the next decade if dropout rates do not improve, according to the Alliance of Excellent Education 
•If the 59,000 Georgia dropouts from the class of 2008 had graduated, their collective earnings would have increased by over $15 billion over their lifetime