Approximately every 26 seconds a high school student makes the decision to drop out of school.

By the end of each day of school, 7,000 more students have dropped out.  According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Center for Children in Poverty of the more than 50 million K?12 students, 11 million live in poverty.  These students are often the most at risk for dropping out and underperforming academically. Among ethnic minorities, the dropout rate is 50%.

A student’s decision to leave school costs you money: 1) Lower tax revenues – dropouts pay 42% less in federal and state income taxes than high school graduates; 2)  Spending on entitlement programs – public assistance provided to dropouts is at a significantly higher rate; and 3)  Criminal acts – 68% of the nation’s state prison inmates are dropouts.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) reported the total cost to “incarcerate an average daily population of 154,576 was $3.3 billion.”  Again, on average 68% on inmates are dropouts-meaning 105,112 of the 155,000 were likely dropouts.