ABOUT CPI : about us : vision & mission : our work : background : broader context : glossary

Broader Context

National and State Context:

• Research by Cecilia Rouse, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, shows that each dropout, over his or her lifetime, costs the nation approximately $260,000 (Rouse, 2005)
   
• In a recent survey, high school dropouts complained that school did not reflect real-world challenges. More than half of respondents said that the major reason for dropping out of high school was that they felt their classes were uninteresting and irrelevant. (Bridgeland & di Iulio, 2006)
   
• Approximately 154,900 students did not graduate from California’s high schools in 2007; the lost lifetime earnings in California for that class of dropouts alone are more than $40.3 billion. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2007)
   
• California would save more than $2.3 billion in health care costs over the lifetimes of each class of dropouts had they earned their diplomas. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006)
   
• If California’s high schools graduated all students ready for college, the state would save almost $687.9 million a year in community college remediation costs and lost earnings. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006)
   
• California’s economy would see a combination of crime-related savings and additional revenue of about $1.1 billion each year if the male high school graduation rate increased by just 5%. (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006)
   
• Statewide, nearly one-third of all California high school students drop out of school and another third graduate unprepared to succeed in college or the workplace.
   
• In the Coachella Valley, conservatively up to one third of students drop out of high school and less than one third of high school graduates have completed necessary coursework for UC/CSU admission.
   
• If the permanent population of the Coachella Valley (405,000) was counted as a single city, it would be the 44th largest city in America – just under Miami, FL at 404, 048 and larger than Oakland, CA – 397,067; Tulsa, OK – 382,872; Honolulu, HI – 377-357; Minneapolis, MN – 372,833; Colorado Springs, CO - 372,437; Arlington, TX – 367,197 and Wichita, KS – 357,698. (Population Data: 2006 US Census Bureau / “Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation, Swanson, April 2008). View Statistics.