Why President Obama’s Spoke Out for Education

 If your school did not show  President Obama’s education speech live, you can still  see it  at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZ6GrzWkw0 or read it at:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/obama-speech-to-schoolchi_n_278763.html.

The president felt it was important to talk to students  since 3 out of 10  in the United States drop out  from high school.  That’s one of the highest dropout rates for any industrialized country.  And not graduating from high school or getting an equivalent like GED can lead to some devastating results:

• High school dropouts earn on average $9,245 less a year than graduates.
• In 2003-2005, dropouts  had an unemployment rate of  18.1% (About one of  six) compared to 12.1% for high school graduates, 7% for those with some college and 5% for college graduates (And those stats were at a time when there were more jobs!)
• People in prison are 70-80% more likely to be dropouts.
• The income of families headed by dropouts are twice as likely to be under the poverty rate than those of graduates.

Let’s face it, it’s difficult if not impossible to get your own place or have enough money for food let alone extras if you’re making minimum wage. 

I know  people who’ve dropped out and luckily most of them have gone for their GEDs or finished their education by computer.  A couple of others have really struggled getting or keeping a job.

Practice GED tests in English and Spanish and other helps  are available at http://www.carnegielibrary.org/research/databases/#jobs either at home with a library card or at our libraries.  Prep books for GEDs and other ideas are also available. Here are a couple:

                  

 

   

 

                                                                                    Tina Zubak -Beechview