High school dropouts and incarceration

Charleston Gazette:

The study by Harvard researchers noted that nearly 30 percent of U.S. youths don’t graduate on time with classmates, and this dropout rate rises to 35 percent in the South. Especially, blacks, Hispanics and American Indian teens are washing out at horrendous rates. In Florida, only 38 percent of black males graduate on time.

“Failure to graduate triples one’s chances of going to jail,” a news report said, adding that “spending on jails and prisons in every Southern state far outstripped education spending in the last 20 years.” One researcher estimated that, because of the high dropout rate, “the increased incarceration cost for the state of Georgia alone is $105 million.”

Playing With the Dropout Numbers

A call for reform

Ignorance is Bliss: Dropout rate may be a stunning 30%

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Study: Low graduation rates in South represent 'civil rights crisis

Dems try to change exit exam penalties

A word of advice for young black males -- graduate!