High School Dropout Rate - One in Four

No matter what one’s political persuasion, one is hearing campaign rhetoric about cutting government spending. One area where spending cannot withstand further financial trimming is in education. The school system simply is failing. There is ample evidence of this in the student dropout rate, which has been called “outrageous”:

“High schools are coming under pressure from the federal government to improve the nation’s dismal dropout rate — one in four students.”

link: New rules address ‘outrageous’ dropout rates

There is something wrong when one quarter of the children do not finish high school. The burden that this places on the economy is enormous. Gone are the days when one can strike out and follow one’s dreams without a high school education. The odds against success are overwhelming for dropouts. The technological age changes the employment dynamics. Higher education is needed. Sadly, for one in four children, the ‘American Dream’ is effaced during the teen years.

Catherine Forsythe