Reap what we sow...

Tuesday November 1st was Election Day here in Colorado.  It was a small ballot.  Here in Denver just a couple school board elections and a sick day proposition to guarantee new workers 10 days of paid sick leave.  Statewide we had Proposition 103, a proposed sales tax increase that would have restored tax rates to where they were for most of the 1990s.  103 would have raised an estimated $2.9 billion over 5 years to fund K-12 and higher education.  As with most states education funding has been slashed the last several years.  Earlier this year the legislator cut school funding by $200 million and Governor Hickenlooper just announced plans to cut an additional $89 million for K-12 and $60 million for high ed.  Hickenlooper was neutral on 103, but had the gall to announce the plans for additional cuts ON Election Day.  Needless to say 103 was soundly defeated.  Not even close.  I'll give most people the benefit of doubt because I imagine most people want better schools.  They just don't want to pay for them.  

Those against prop 103 called it a "job killer."  The thing is education leads to jobs.  The data unequivocally shows the importance of a graduating from college.  High school dropouts are significantly more likely to be unemployed than those with a college degree.  Data from 2009 show that less than 46% of young adults ages 16 to 24 who dropout of high school are employed versus an employment rate of nearly 87% for college graduates.  The same data also demonstrates that high school dropouts are much more likely to be incarcerated.  Nearly 10% of young adult men who dropout of high school spend time in prison or jail versus just 0.2% of those who have a bachelor’s degree.

While young women who dropout typically do not end up in prison, they are having children at a young age.  Young women who dropout are six times as likely to have a child as compared to their same aged peers who graduate from college.  A staggering 23% of single mothers ages 16 to 24 are estimated to be high school dropouts.  Just 2.6% of young single mothers are estimated to have a bachelor’s degree.

The economic costs of high school dropouts are substantial.  A high school dropout has a lifetime net negative economic impact.  Data show that the average high school dropout will cost taxpayers approximately $292,000 more than a high school graduate over the course of his or her lifetime.  Compared to a college graduate the average high school dropout will cost taxpayers nearly $800,000 more.  Given the current economic situation and federal deficit, our society can hardly afford to support the current 6.2 million high school dropouts.  Nor can our society continue to support the nearly 3 out of 10 students who will not graduate from high school in four years.

So because we refuse to invest in education now, we'll have to invest in prisons later.  Reap what we sow...