The K-12 Education Crisis
Approximately half of African-American and Hispanic children drop out of high school. Of those who
graduate, many read at a middle school level, and few are ready for college. Our poor, inner-city
children are not receiving the education they need to become successful contributors to society.
Without a diploma these children are as likely to go to prison, as they are to go to college. The
promise of the American Dream – “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every
man, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement,” according to James Truslow
Adams – is just that for these children: a dream.
Likewise, in suburban America, too many children are graduating without the skills they need to be
successful in college or the increasingly competitive global economy. It is an economic disaster in the
making: by 2020, 123 million American jobs will be high-skill, high-wage, but only 50 million
Americans will be qualified to fill them.
It’s a crisis that’s been in the making for years, and there’s no quick fix. But we’ve got to get started
today.
Global Competitiveness
In 1998, the U.S. ranked first in the percentage of 25 to 34 year olds with a bachelor’s degree; by
2004 our nation had dropped to 5th and we continue to decline.i Between 2000 and 2004, out of 24
nations, the U.S. was one of only two that showed no increase in bachelor’s degree attainment. ii
While the U.S. once had the highest high school graduation rate in the world, it has now slipped to
19th out of 26 countries.iii
Furthermore, by the end of 8th grade, what passes for the standard U.S. math curriculum is two years
behind the mathematics studied by 8th graders in other countries.iv Not surprisingly, American 15 year
olds are below average in math, as well as science and reading. Of 30 nations participating in the
2006 Program for International Assessment (PISA), the U.S. ranked:
 15th in reading
 21st in science
 25th in mathv
This crisis becomes more acute when one considers that, (1) two-thirds of new jobs created in
today’s economy require higher education or advanced training,vi and (2) the “one-third”
phenomenon: just one-third of all U.S. high-school freshmen will graduate within four years; one-third
of those graduates will attend college; one-third of those college students will earn a degree within six
years.
In other words, in a room of 100 U.S. high school 9th graders, less than 4 (3.7) will graduate from
college in ten years.
These are troubling statistics, and education reform advocates around the country are doing great
work to address these, and other, failures in our public education system.
Yet, in the meantime, kids – particularly low-income, inner-city, minority kids – continue to fall through
the cracks:
Low-Income Statistics


Throughout the country, low-income students historically and consistently have lower
graduation rates. Nationally, of the 1.2 million annual dropouts, 60% are low-income;vii
In Colorado, the 2009 low-income graduation rate was 61%, compared to an 80% graduation
rate for middle- and high-income students.viii
Inner-City Statistics


Urban city students struggle more than suburban kids. In fact, suburban students are nearly
twice as likely to graduate as those in urban districts. Nationwide, suburban districts average
an 81% graduation rate, while urban districts languish at 47%,ix
Of the 50 largest cities in the country, the graduation gap between urban and suburban areas
of Denver is fifth highest in the nation.x
Minority Statistics



Minority students have historically had lower graduation rates throughout the country;
Half of the nation’s high school African-American and Hispanic students graduate on time;xi
In Colorado, 64% of African-Americans graduated, and 55% of Hispanics, while 81% of
Caucasians earned a diploma. Overall, the Colorado minority graduation rate is 59%.xii
The social and economic ramifications of such high dropout rates among our high school students are
immense:
Drugs
 According to a 2008 Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy report, “Those
without a high school degree were nearly 4 times more likely to be lifetime methamphetamine
users compared with college graduates.”xiii
 The National Bureau of Economic Research found “a positive association between marijuana
use and dropping out.”xiv
Crime



More than two-thirds of inmates in the nation’s state and federal prisons and local jails are high
school dropouts;xv
A dropout is eight times more likely to spend some time in jail than a high school graduate, and
nearly twenty times more likely than a college graduate;xvi
For each additional year of schooling, the odds that a student will someday commit a major
crime like murder or assault are reduced by one-third.xvii
Health Care

The more education, the healthier the individual. High school graduates live nine years longer
than dropouts on average; the health of an 18 year old dropout is similar to that of more
educated persons over two decades older.xviii


Over the course of his or her lifetime, each high school graduate will save state governments
almost $14,000 in health-related expenses.xix
Dropouts are 25 times more likely to be on Medicaid than college graduates, costing states
over $8,000 per dropout, per year.xx
Government Assistance


If one-third of all Americans without a diploma were to receive more education, the savings
would range from $3.8 billion to $6.7 billion from family assistance, $3.7 billion from Food
Stamps, and $400 million from housing assistance;xxi
Single mother dropouts are 40% more likely to need family assistance than mothers with a
high school degree; 96% more likely than single mothers with more than a high school
education.xxii
The Economic Impact
In the nation’s 50 largest cities and surrounding metropolitan areas an estimated 600,000 students
dropped out of high school in 2008. Research by the Alliance for Excellent Education estimated the
economic impact of reducing that number by halfxxiii:





The 300,000 “new grads” would account for $4.1 billion in increased earnings annually;
These earnings would allow this group to spend and invest close to $4 billion more than if they
remained high school dropouts;
By the midpoint in their careers these new graduates would likely purchase homes totaling a
value of as much as $10.4 billion;
This increased spending and investment would likely support an additional 30,000 jobs in our
nation’s 50 largest cities and surrounding areas;
As a result of increased wages and higher levels of spending, state and local tax revenue
within these regions would likely grow by more than $536 million a year.
Postsecondary Education Opportunity. (2007) Bachelor’s Degree Attainment of Young Adults in Industrial Democracies 1996 to 2004. Oskaloosa, IA
Ibid.
iii
Strong American Schools analysis of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2006
iv
Schmidt, W. (2003, Feb 4) Presentation to Mathematics and Science Initiative.
v
The Program for International Assessment (PISA). Science and math are 2006 results http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008016_1.pdf; reading is 2003
result.
vi
The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems Information Center (2007). Six Year College Graduation Rate of Bachelor’s Students.
vii
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, (2004). Current Population Survey (CPS), Oct 1970 – Oct 2004, Census Bureau, unpublished tabulations.
viii
Colorado Dept. of Education. Class of 2009 Graduation Data. www.cde.state.co.us
ix
Education Week. (2008, April 9) Cities in Crisis, Christopher B. Swanson. Bethesda, MD: Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.
x
Ibid.
xi
Education Week. (2007, June 12) Diplomas Count 2007: Ready for What? Preparing Students for College, Careers, and Life after High School.
Bethesda, MD: Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.
xii
Colorado Dept of Education. Class of 2009 Graduation Data. www.cde.state.co.us.
xiii
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. Prevalence of nonmedical methamphetamine use in the United States. (2008). Todd M Durell,
Larry A Kroutil, Paul Crits-Christoph, Nina Barchha and David L Van Brunt.
xiv
The National Bureau of Economic Research. Marijuana Use and High School Dropout: The Influence of Unobservables (2008). Daniel F. McCaffrey,
Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, Bing Han, Phyllis Ellickson.
xv
Harlow, C.W. (2003, April) Education and Correctional Populations. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
xvi
Ibid.
xvii
McKinsey & Co (2007, May) Education: The Global Challenge 2007 London: Author.
xviii
Muennig, P. (2000, Oct) Health Returns to Education Interventions. Columbia University. Mailman School of Public Health.
xix
The Alliance for Excellent Education (2007, Jan) The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools.
Washington DC.
xx
Ibid.
xxi
Sum, A., Khatiwada, I., Pond, N., Trub ‘skyy, M., Fogg, N., Palma, S. (2002) Left Behind in the Labor Market: Labor Market Problems of the Nation’s
Out-of-School, Young Adult Populations.
xxii
Waldfogel, J. Garfinkel, I. & Kelly, B. (2005, Oct) Public Assistance Programs: How much could be saved with improved education?
xxiii
The Alliance for Excellent Education. (2008) The Economic Benefits of Reducing the Dropout Rate in the Nation’s Largest Metropolitan Areas.
http://www.all4ed.org
i
ii