“I really didn’t like school until I came to Promise Academy,” says Jamill Jackson, a student at the Roberts Vaux Promise Academy in Philadelphia. “I really didn’t wake up until high school.”
Watch this video of Jackson and his schoolmate Brandon Rose explaining why having teachers and school administrators who listen to them has made the difference in their education and in their lives.
Watch Brandon Rose and Jamill Jackson on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
Across America, less than 50% of young Black males will graduate from high school.
Watch Tavis Smiley Reports: “Too Important to Fail” on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
Every year, approximately 1.3 million students drop out of high school — 7,000 students a day. On average, only 72 percent of America’s children graduate. Less than 60 percent of Latino, African American and Native Americans earn a high school diploma. For minority males, the number has been consistently near or below the 50 percent mark.
The economic impact of children dropping out of high school amounts to a third of a trillion dollars over their lifetimes in lost wages, productivity and taxes. The median earnings for individuals who do not complete high school are $12,000 a year. Those who receive a high school diploma receive, on average, an additional $10,000 a year. According to children who have left school and those at risk, dropping out establishes almost an insurmountable obstacle course for life, depriving a person of both opportunity and hope.
This is an American tragedy. But it is a tragedy we can correct.