A 2006 newspaper report and a 2005 Princeton study pose costly problems for Detroit school students and residents. In 2006, USA Today reported on a study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He said that several of the largest school districts in the country had a graduation rate of less than 50%. Detroit schools, the 11th largest district in the country, came in last with an overwhelming 21.7%.

Of course, the study sparked heated debates about its accuracy and fairness. In 2005, the state and city put the Detroit Schools graduation rate at about 44-48%, according to the source. Part of the discrepancy is explained by looking at “timely graduation rates” compared to those who graduate over the four-year period. However you look at it, no one in Detroit schools is happy with him.

High school dropouts cost Detroit schools and city residents money. A lot of money. A 2005 Princeton University study found that dropping out of high school, on average, costs the county $ 260,000. It was estimated that Michigan defectors could lose

$ 11 billion in total lifetime earnings upon waiving the diploma. The reasons are clear.

Whether you look at Detroit schools or any other district, the patterns are the same. High school graduates earn more money, live longer lives, have healthier and better-educated children, are less likely to become teenage parents, are less likely to commit crimes, and are less likely to be dependent on social and medical services. of the government. Detroit Schools feel the impact of these costs on their high welfare rolls and unemployment rates. Michigan’s unemployment rate is the worst in the country, and the high dropout rate is directly related.

More than 50% of inmates in Michigan jails dropped out of high school. And it costs the state more than $ 29,000 a year just to house them. 40% of parents receiving public assistance in the state also drop out of Detroit schools (or other schools).

The problem is compounded when race is included as a factor. In fact, the Princeton study estimated the increase in personal income that could be achieved by raising the “educational attainment” of minority groups to that of white students by 2020. It found that students in Michigan and Detroit schools would earn more than $ 3 billion in additional total personal income. The question is how to achieve it.

The racial gap has been around for years and represents a huge problem for Detroit schools. Funding for adult education was slashed by more than $ 50 million two years ago. Now Detroit Schools are struggling to meet the class size and proficiency mandates set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

And in another racially heated move, the United States Supreme Court recalled the Brown case which had allowed the use of race as a factor in determining school attendance and attempting to integrate schools. This is a sensitive issue for the Detroit Schools, as Milliken v. Bradley’s decision that desegregation cannot be enforced across district borders. Many Detroit school residents still see that decision as a factor in the resulting “white drain” that has left Detroit schools in a divided and failing district.