Whether Illinois teenagers graduate public high school or drop out, taxpayers foot the bill.My point-of-view is that we should force those who want to be in school to go back. Surely there are those who do drop out who want to be in school. Also for a second there when they cited some stats on what would happen to a high school drop-out it almost reeked of fear-mongering. That's just how it looked to me.
When teens stay in school, tax dollars pay for their education.
When teens drop out, taxpayers save money today but often pay, and pay heavily, for the rest of that student's life -- for jail, for the welfare check, for the lost income tax revenue.
Consider these two jaw-dropping stats from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University: A high school dropout will earn $355,000 less over his or her lifetime than a graduate and is 3½ times more likely to be arrested.
So here's the question: Do we pay now or later?
We say pay now.
Today, a state task force will release a report calling for a statewide system for re-enrolling dropouts that would return an additional 25,000 teens each year to comprehensive alternative high school programs by 2013.
Via The Capitol Fax morning shorts.
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