Not all students are the same. But, often, we expect students to learn in exactly the same way.

Perhaps that’s why it should be no surprise that school simply isn’t working for every student. Some students don’t have access to the classes that interest them most. Others don’t feel challenged, aren’t receiving enough personal attention or are frustrated because they have better access to technology at home than in the classroom.

The result: In Wisconsin 1 out of 5 students drops out of high school before graduation.

What happens when students are not engaged?

The effects are far-reaching. Students who drop out earn $10,000 less per year than their peers who graduate. And, the entire economy suffers. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, “dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost Wisconsin almost $3.9 billion in lost wages over their lifetimes.”

The Statistics

A study by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice finds:

• "At 14.1 percent, the unemployment rate of high school dropouts is almost three times higher than those who have graduated from high school or college.
• Approximately 40 percent of high school dropouts receive Medicaid benefits … High school dropouts cost the state $209,385,000 in Medicaid costs in 2007.
• High school dropouts are twice as likely to be incarcerated as high school graduates. African American male dropouts are four times more likely to be incarcerated than African Americans who have graduated from high school.
• This gap in incarceration rates leads to over 5,000 additional inmates than there would be if Wisconsin’s graduation rate was 100 percent. Approximately $154 million each year is spent to incarcerate these additional criminals."