What's Wrong with Damn Near Everything!

Chapter FourWhat's Wrong with Education

We don't value education enough in our society. Maybe it is because we fail to see that education is the solution to so many of our problems.

A better-educated society is a more employable society. People with jobs are less likely to turn to crime—less likely to turn to drugs, prostitution, robbery, assault, and more. They are more likely to stay home and take care of their families. They have money to spend, which helps the economy. They are also less dependent on the government to take care of them.

Sadly, most folks have never stepped back and looked at the big picture and end up focusing on the wrong solutions to many of our problems. Want to fight drugs, racism, teen pregnancy, government dependence? Get more kids in school and keep them there.

As a country, we are failing at this as the following statistics show.

• Every 26 seconds, a high school student drops out of school—7,000 students per day.
• Twenty-five percent of high school freshmen fail to graduate on time.
• The United States now ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries in graduation rates.
• The average income of a high school dropout is about $20,000 per year while a high school graduate earns over $36,000 per year.

These stats alone should be all you need to know that we have a crisis of education in our country.

But the problem is not confined to our high school dropout statistics. Education as a core value means we have to look past just these numbers.

College is the next ...