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Forum Unites Business and Education Leaders on
Dropout Prevention
By Jonathan Yeomans
March 26, 2008
Greensboro, N.C.
— When a student drops out of high school, they
hurt more than themselves.
Dropouts cost state taxpayers millions of
dollars a year in lost revenue and taxes, as
well as Medicaid and incarceration costs.
Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed and
end up in prison.
"The prospects for a high school dropout are
bleak at best," said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight.
But a panel of business executives and state
school leaders gathered at the NC Chamber's
annual meeting on Wednesday agreed that state
businesses and schools have the ability to keep
students in the classroom, engaged in their work
and prepared for the future workplace.
Scott Ralls, president-elect of the North
Carolina Community College System, said that the
private business community can help by mentoring
students or providing opportunities for them to
apply the skills they've learned by offering
internships, job shadowing or peer mentoring.
He cited a study by the Bill and Melinda Gates
foundation that reports that the number one
reason that students drop out is they don't see
the relevance of their schoolwork outside the
classroom.
"Eighth and ninth-graders are very
impressionable," Ralls said. "They need to see
the connection between what they are doing in
schools and what they'll do in the long term."
For students living in rural communities where
business mentors are scarce, technology can
connect them to someone. That's the goal of
Futures for Kids, an organization that uses
technology to help students discover their
interests and set educational and career goals.
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