ONE-D Drop-Out Prevention Aligns to OUR NSF Grant Purpose

Employers have big stake in reducing dropout rate

BY GAIL TORREANO • August 15, 2008

Our nation is facing a crossroads. I am not speaking about the economy or rising gas prices. This crisis poses an even more dangerous threat to neighborhoods, businesses and families.

I am speaking of the high school dropout epidemic.

The bottom line is simple: Far too many students are quitting without diplomas, especially in southeast Michigan. The numbers from across the country are staggering -- more than 1.2 million students drop out each year. One-third of all public high school students fail to graduate. That number jumps to one-half among African-American, Hispanic and American Indian students.

In fact, by the time you finish reading this column, more than 11 students will have made the choice to drop out.

According to a Johns Hopkins University study, there are 30 "dropout factories" in southeast Michigan, meaning schools with fewer than 60% of their students graduating with their class for at least three years in a row.

Dropping out is not a victimless choice affecting just the person who decides to leave school. That choice impacts each and every one of us. Studies have shown that students who are unprepared to enter college cost the economy $3.7 billion annually in lost earnings and remedial education.

Something needs to be done before we lose another generation of students.

That is why, on behalf of AT&T employees -- more than 12,000 in Michigan and 300,000 nationwide -- we are proud to join with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan in forming the Greater Detroit Venture Fund to team schools with proven partners to help them turn around their skyrocketing dropout rates. We challenge the rest of the business community to join us.

As a corporation, this issue poses long-term implications for workforce readiness and, as a nation, for our ability to compete in the global economy. For the first time in decades, we are approaching a point where the labor market growth will slow to virtually zero. We are entering a world where people, not capital, will become our critical scarce resource. Investing in a well-educated workforce may be the most important thing we can do to help our nation remain a leader in a digital global economy.

The $1-million gift to the United Way is part of AT&T Aspire, a 4-year, $100-million program focused on high school retention and workforce readiness.

This is the right program at the right time.

Compared with high school graduates, dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, living in poverty, in poor health or, worse yet -- incarcerated. The United States ranks 16th globally in its percentage of students who complete a secondary-education program -- behind many other industrialized nations.

By helping high school students graduate and encouraging them to start careers, we can help them succeed -- not just in school, but in life.

We owe it to our nation, our state and ourselves, but most of all, we owe it to our children.

GAIL TORREANO is president of AT&T Michigan and also serves on the United Way for Southeastern Michigan Executive Board and as chair of the Greater Detroit Venture Fund Board.