The importance of keeping kids in school cannot be overstated

• The median income for high school dropouts age 25 and older in Harris County was $19,570 in 2007.
• 25% of the dropout population age 25 and over lives below the poverty line, requiring the help of the community to make ends meet.
• Dropouts account for a disproportionately higher percentage of Texas prison and death row inmates.
• In Houston, cutting the dropout rate by half would generate $16 million in taxes and increase wages by $165 million a year.

The dropout rate is an epidemic that affects the entire community. Fifty-one percent of students in the Houston Area fail to graduate within four years of entering high school.