Every year, more than 1.3 million students drop out of high
school, 7,000 students a day. KPTS has joined other public media
across the country in American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, a
public media initiative supported by the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting to help local communities across America address
the dropout crisis. The initiative builds on public media’s
long-standing commitment to education by convening conversations
and strengthening partnerships between public radio and
television stations and local schools, businesses and community
organizations to help students stay on the path to a high school
diploma. On average, only about 69 percent of America’s children
graduate. Less than 60 percent of Latino, African American and
Native Americans earn a high school diploma. The economic impact
of the 1.3 million children who dropped out of high school in
2010 amounts to a third of a trillion dollars over their
lifetimes in lost wages, productivity and taxes. The median
earnings for individuals w