Nationally, the graduation rate for white students was 78 percent, compared with 72 percent for Asian students, 55 percent for African-American students and 53 percent for Hispanic students. A recent study found that the D.C. graduation rate fell to 48.8 percent in 2006. Comparable numbers for Maryland show a graduation rate of 73.5 percent while Virginia’s sit at 69.2 percent.
Most alarming is the dichotomy between urban and suburban schools. The District is not alone. Seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent. In Baltimore, for example, researchers found that 34.6 percent of city school students graduate, compared to 81.5 percent of the public school students in Baltimore’s suburbs.
Consider the following:
- Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested than high school graduates and more than eight times as likely to be incarcerated.
- Nationwide, 68 percent of state prison inmates do not have a high school diploma. There is data showing a 10 percent increase in graduation rates has historically reduced murder and assault rates by approximately 20 percent.
- According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in February 2009 the national unemployment rate for those without a high school diploma was 4.3 percentage points higher than those who had graduated from high school.
- The U.S. Department of Education reports that students from low-income families are six times more likely to drop out of high school than students from high-income families.
- One study in 2001 found that women who gave birth during their teens completed secondary-level schooling 10 to 12 percent as often and pursued post-secondary education 14 to 29 percent as often as women who waited until age 30.
- The national average annual income for a high school dropout in 2005 was $17,299, compared to $26,933 for a high school graduate, a difference of $9,634. Nationally, high school dropouts were also the only group of workers who saw income levels decline over the last 30 years.
- Children of parents who graduate from high school are themselves far more likely to graduate from high school than are children of parents without a high school diploma.
- High school dropouts are more likely to receive public assistance than graduates and are less likely to have health insurance and a pension or retirement program.
