City by the Lake

The most important factor in education

Get the kids into the classroom. It sounds so simple, yet it is so profound. You can't educate a kid that is not attending classes. When I looked at previous years No Child Left Behind stats and saw that Michigan City had schools fail simply because of attendance rates being too low, that just astounded me. I believe that there is a role for every community member to play in the education of our kids. One of the most important things that we need parents to do is to make sure that their kids are getting to class. Kids who are not in class obviously have zero chance at graduation, which is the first step on a life long journey through learning and career. According to the US Department of Labor in 2002 a person who did graduate High School earned on the average about 50% more per week than a person who did not complete High School. ($616/wk vs $421/wk) When a person attends some college that figure jumps about another 20% ($732/wk) and finally a person finishing up a college degree earns on the average about 250% of what a high school dropout earns a week ($1089/wk vs $421/wk).

A child who is not in class has zero chance at graduation, and is instantly handicapped in their earnings ability throughout the rest of their life. 30 years ago the jobs that a high school dropout could walk into and support a family on, today require college experience. Those same jobs just don't exsist today for the people who are not educated.

posted by southsider2k5 @ 8:02 AM