According to an independent research group, Wisconsin has the nation’s 11th highest graduation rate. However, the rate reported by the group is lower than estimates by the state Department of Public Instruction and the U.S. Department of Education. That and other facts about the state’s schools are included in a new report card released today by the Alliance for Excellent Education,...

School dropouts can also have a large impact on the economy. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, the class of 2007 cost the state nearly four-billion dollars in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes.

Interested in high school dropout rates? Reading scores? The Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington released an updated California State Card, which provides a summary of vital state high school data.

Alliance for Excellent Education President, Bob Wise says, "Currently the 4800 students that did not graduate from Idaho high schools last year will cost the state about one-point-two billion dollars in lost income over their working lifetimes that ought to be incentive enough to take the actions necessary in every state to improve our high schools."

The Alliance for Excellent Education has estimated that nationally, 157,000 teachers, excluding retirees, leave the field of education each year. The organization also surmised that more than 232,000 teachers change schools, often looking for better working conditions and better support systems.

The Alliance for Excellent Education found that high school dropouts in 2007 cost Minnesota nearly $3.9 million in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes. And some supporters note there really is no incentive for schools to keep kids in school past age 16. Some kids simply quit going to school, and schools don’t go looking for them.

"We should not have a law that gives students a reason to drop out," St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said, telling committee members the story of a fourth grader who had plans to drop out at age 16. Carstarphen and Wiger cited research by the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Excellent Education that found that high school dropouts in 2007 cost the state nearly $3.9 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes.

The Alliance for Excellent Education, which examines high school quality, estimated in 2006 that the nation loses $3.7 billion a year on students ill-prepared for college. That figure includes the costs for remedial classes after high school and the loss of earning potential from college drop-outs who enrolled in remedial reading, a strong predictor that a student will not finish college.

According to the Washington D.C.-based Alliance For Excellent Education some 14,900 students in Minnesota each year do not graduate with their peers.

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national group that examines high school quality, a high school dropout earns about $9,600 less a year on average than a high school graduate.