Dropouts have big impact on cities
Throw the book at them. That's the inescapable conclusion of the California Dropout Research Project, a study group that looked at graduation rates, the economic cost of academic failure and the impact of dropout rates on crime, including homicide and aggravated assault.
The interconnection of those societal scores merits our attention.
The research project, based at UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, looked at 17 California cities, including three in the San Joaquin Valley, and concluded that students' failure to stay in school has a broad impact on the communities in which they live.
The study looked at Fresno, Modesto and Stockton, three cities of similar size and demographics as Bakersfield. Among its conclusions:
* Fresno's dropout problem (35.1 percent in the Fresno Unified School District) could cost the city nearly $555 million in economic losses over the lifetimes of those dropouts, based on everything from higher unemployment to crime. Cutting the city's dropout rate by half would generate $277 million in economic benefits over the same period.
* Stockton, the only city studied that had more students leave school than graduate during the 2006-07 school year, has a dropout problem that will cost that community close to $476 million in assorted costs. Dropouts from 2006-07 will earn nearly $262 million less during their lifetimes because of their failure to complete high school. It will also cost the crime victims of those dropouts nearly $111 million in miscellaneous expenses.
* Modesto, which produced three graduates for every dropout in 2006-07, roughly in keeping with Kern County and state averages, could generate $84 million in benefits to the community by reducing the typical number of dropouts by half. Even then, the cost of the remaining dropouts will be $169 million over the lifetime of those students.
The moral of the story, which clearly translates to Bakersfield's dropout problem: Keeping kids in school not only improves their chances for a better life, it contributes to the safety and economic well-being of the city.
That further underscores the fact that the dropout rate in Kern County (23 percent, based on the most recent figures available, and on the state's new counting method) represents more than just a problem for educators. It's a community-wide issue that demands community-wide attention.
Law enforcement and correctional officials are well aware of the connection between academic competence and propensity to commit crime. This study is further evidence that their approach can never lean too much toward prevention.
Business leaders, too, will be wise to weigh in with solutions to the problem. We hear a lot about preserving a healthy environment for business in California, but precious little about preserving the importance of education in the lives of youth.
This is an investment we must never overlook. Throw the book at struggling students (gently) -- math books, science books, literature. The entire library.
