Arizona’s high school dropouts — and young adults who are neither working nor in school — have a discouragingly high price tag,
That's according to a new report released today by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, other Valley mayors and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
Arizona has one of the highest dropout rates in the U.S. with one out of five 18-year-olds not graduating from high school.
In the city of Phoenix, it is even higher with one-quarter of high school students not graduating.
The report also found 24 percent of the youth in Phoenix — and 22 percent statewide — age 16 to 24 are not working or in school. That amounts to 182,000 youths in Arizona and 45,000 in the city of Phoenix.
The state’s high school dropouts will earn $271,000 less than their cohorts who do get a diploma. Dropouts also tend to have higher social costs — such as criminal records and going on welfare. That brings their economic losses and social price tags up to more than $421,000 statewide and $463,500 in Phoenix, according to the report by the Arizona Mayors Education Roundtable.
Each Arizona high school dropout results in a $421,280 loss in economic activity and wages during his or her lifetime. This figure includes lower wages, increased social services and crime-related costs, lost economic productivity and lost tax revenue.
The long-term total economic cost of high school dropouts in the state is as much as $7.6 billion in lower wages, lower tax revenue and social costs. The disconnected youth price tag is $127 billion, according to the report.
“This report should be a wake up call to everyone in our state about why it is so important that we work together to get every student to graduate high school,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “In Phoenix, we’re working to tackle the dropout rate by making sure our kids read by the third grade, and opening an online high school that helps those who have dropped out get back into class and earn their diploma.”
Phoenix high school dropouts have a $463,500 lifetime economic loss because they lack diplomas.
“We’ve all known that dropouts have a cost to our society, but this report displays it in a startling way,” said Todd Sanders, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.
The full report is available here.