69ý

Education Funding Report Roundup

Dropout Costs Priced for 50 Major U.S. Cities

By Catherine Gewertz — November 25, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

If half the students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had graduated, they would have generated $4.1 billion more in wages and $536 million in state and local taxes nationally in one average year of their working lives, according to a new analysis.

The , issued this month by the Washington-based Alliance for Excellent Education, calculates what the dropout problem costs the country and each of the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Underwritten by State Farm Insurance of Bloomington, Ill., the study uses a model developed by an Idaho company that specializes in tools for socioeconomic analysis. The model blends education and jobs data, and an examination of each metropolitan region’s economy, to estimate the increased wages, education, and tax revenue that would be generated if the dropout rate were cut in half.

The numbers vary depending on each region’s peculiarities. In a conference call with reporters, Bob Wise, the president of the alliance, noted that 84 percent of high school graduates in Honolulu go on to some kind of postsecondary education, compared with 47 percent in Memphis. For the area that includes Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., for instance, the study finds that if half of the 70,929 students who dropped out of the class of 2008 had earned diplomas, they would have contributed $575 million more in wages and $79 million in property, sales, and income taxes during an average year, which the alliance defines as when a graduate is about 39 years old.

The national dropout count—599,755 students in the class of 2008—was calculated using a method devised by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, which is an arm of the same organization that publishes Education Week.

Mr. Wise said that he hopes the data in the report make clear to local business people the stake they have in improving the graduation rates in their communities, even if they don’t have children attending the public schools.

“Nearly 600,000 students dropped out of the class of 2008, at a great cost to themselves,” he said, “but as this study demonstrates, also to their communities.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the December 02, 2009 edition of Education Week as Dropout Costs Priced for 50 Major U.S. Cities

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Education Funding Gun Violence Takes a Toll. We Need More Support, Principals Tell Congress
At a congressional roundtable, school leaders made an emotional appeal for more funds to help schools recover from gun violence.
5 min read
Principals from the Principals Recovery Network address lawmakers on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Principals address Democratic members of Congress on the long-term effects of gun violence on Sept. 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Courtesy of Oversight Committee Democrats Press Office
Education Funding ESSER Is Ending. Which Investments Accomplished the Most?
Districts have until Sept. 30 to commit their last round of federal COVID aid to particular expenses.
11 min read
Illustration of falling or declining money with a frustrated man in a suit standing on the edge of a cliff the shape of an arrow dollar sign.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Explainer How One Grant Can Help 69ý Recover From Shootings
69ý can leverage a little-known emergency grant to recover from violence or a natural disaster. Here’s how.
9 min read
Broken piggy bank with adhesive bandage on the table
iStock/Getty
Education Funding A Funding Lifeline for Rural 69ý Is at Risk, and Not for the First Time
Rural schools near national forests rely on dedicated federal funds. But so far, lawmakers haven't renewed them.
7 min read
School bus on rural route, Owens Valley, CA.
iStock/Getty