High School Dropouts Cost Maryland Millions
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Nearly 27,000 state high school students dropped out in 2007, costing Maryland almost $193 million in tax revenues, according to a recent study by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.
The rising number of high school dropouts is costing state taxpayers about $42 million per year and causing governmental expenditures for programs such as Medicaid and incarceration costs, the study states.
In addition to increasing costs and a rising number of low-wage earners, the state is struggling with higher unemployment rates, all consequences of not completing high school, according to the report.
The study states Maryland’s 393,200 working-age dropouts earn nearly $10,000 less each year than high school graduates, reducing annual state revenues by approximately $4 billion.
For every additional high school dropout, the state is projected to lose $1,555 in revenue, with total lifetime costs amounting to $35,180, according to the study.
State graduation rates are declining, despite the rising national graduation rate. Analysts estimate that while the state’s overall graduation rate is about 76 percent, urban graduation rates are lower than 50 percent, resulting in a continued rise in dropout-related costs for taxpayers every year, the study states.
The widening gap between urban and suburban graduation rates in Maryland is one of the largest in the nation, according to the study. The state’s high school graduation rates are higher than the national average, but its urban school districts are suffering from several years of decline and a lack of resources, according to the study.
Graduation rates in Baltimore were only 35 percent in 2007, compared to 81.5 percent in the city’s suburban districts and 76 percent statewide.
Baltimore City Public School System ranked 98th out of nation’s 100 largest school districts for graduation rates, according to the report.
To combat the fiscal burden for taxpayers, the study recommends increased competition from private schools to boost public school graduation rates.
Analysts project if public schools implemented modest school choice programs in response to private school competition, Maryland taxpayers could save millions of dollars each year, the study states.
A 6 percent increase in statewide graduation rates would reduce annual taxation by $5 million, according to the study.