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Report: Economy loses $309 billion to dropouts

Check out this new report on dropouts by the Alliance for Excellent Education.

The report cites research by Cecilia Rouse, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, that shows dropouts cost the nation $260,000 over the course of their lifetime.

Looking at it another way, the nation’s economy would have benefited from an additional $309 billion in income over the lifetime of the 2006 dropouts.

The Southern Regional Education Board, whose member states include North Carolina, responds.

Comments (10)

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Truth (heyI'mback) said:

I just dont buy that. Who works in McDonalds then?

Anyway, its a good job we live in Guilford County with our low dropout rates (HA!).

Meisterlehrer said:

Hey, don't laugh Truth. I know an Assistant Manager @ McDonalds who makes more than me and I'm a teacher w/ a Master's degree. lol

Joe R. Stafford said:

The naming of a school with a room full of citizens got the following N&R coverage.

Two sentences.
34 Words.

This is "local coverage".

EOC Testing said:

Any comments on the length of time the EOC tests are taking.

5-6 hours is ridiculous.

E.C. Huey said:

here are my thoughts on all of the EOCs:

http://www.geocities.com/hueyforguilfordschoolboard/1-19-07.doc

from a recent blog entry...what we're doing to our children is sad...

E.C.

Barbara Ann said:

It is ridiculous. You either know the subject matter or you don't. I doubt that sitting any longer will make the knowledge come. I also think that the students who don't know the material won't stay 5-6 hours either. They will just stop answering or if they have to sit that long, they will just do that, sit.

The break for the AP students and other students not taking EOC state tests who did not have to come to come to school on EOC days was MUCH appreciated. This was a wise move and a much needed "break" after Senior Project, college applications, scholarship applications, etc.

The students are going back re-energized.

Dave Ribar said:

There is little doubt that students who complete high school earn more than students who do not. Drop-out rates are too high, and many more students need to be encouraged to stay in school.

That said, the A4EE report is misleading. The graduation rates, which are based on school system reports, are highly suspect. The problem is that school systems have problems following students who leave or move. Survey data indicate that the drop out rate is about one-half to two-thirds lower than the 30 percent rate listed in the A4EE report. For instance, the same Census Bureau report that the study cites for its income figures shows that only 16 percent of people 18 and over and 15 percent of people 25 and over report did not complete high school.

Just Wondering said:

Jennifer and Morgan

Why did you not report on the student who carried a loaded gun to Dudley and was suspended? This was on Fox news the other day. Apparently he was being investigated for something else when the gun was discovered. Will this student be suspended for the entire year?

E.C. Huey said:

See my updated blog entry for my ideas on vocational education, click on my name below to go to my site. GCS needs to do better with regards to vocational education, and here are my ideas.

E.C. Huey

E.C. Huey said:

My sources inside Andrews tell me preliminary EOC scores trickling in indicate they're not going to make it again this year, and this with only about 900 students in the building...

Unbelieveable...

E.C. Huey

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