High School Dropout Tax Loss High
U.S. educational shortcomings cost not only the student but also the government hundreds of billions of dollars, a study finds.
The focus of a symposium at Teachers College at Columbia University called "The Social Costs of Inadequate Education" -- part of the college's Campaign for Educational Equity -- outlined the cost of lost tax receipts when a child is left behind, the New York Times reported.
The researchers calculated that federal and state income tax receipts would be at least $50 billion higher each year if every high school dropout had graduated.
Billions more are lost to added healthcare costs and increased crime, researchers said.
Someone who does not finish high school makes $260,000 less over a lifetime than someone who graduates from high school, the report found.
This article appeared on United Press International on October 30th, 2005.
Published Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005