Bill Lee: “First, let me just briefly discuss how this bill addresses the dropout crisis that this Nation is facing. Forty years…”

“First, let me just briefly discuss how this bill addresses the dropout crisis that this Nation is facing. Forty years ago the United States was number one in the world in terms of high school graduation rates. Today it ranks seventh. About one-third of the students who enter ninth grade each fall will not graduate from high school within 4 years, if at all. High school students living in low-income families drop out of school at six times the rate of their peers from high-income families. Dropout rates are especially high in communities of color. Only about 55 percent of African American students and 52 percent of Hispanic students graduate on time from high school with a regular diploma, compared with 78 percent of white students.”