Video by Mike Mattos, coauthor of Pyramid Response to Intervention, former principal, Professional Learning Community leader and presenter

Never in our nation’s history have the demands on our educational system been greater or the consequences of failure as severe. Beyond the high-stakes school accountability requirements mandated by state and federal laws, the difference between success and failure is, quite literally, life and death for our students.

Today, a child who graduates from school with a mastery of essential skills and knowledge is prepared to compete in the global marketplace, with numerous

paths of opportunity available to lead a successful life. Yet, for students who fail in our educational system, the reality is that there are virtually no paths of opportunity.

The likely pathway for a student who struggles in school is an adult life of poverty, incarceration, and/or dependence on society’s welfare systems.

Dropouts earn on average $12,000 per yearo 50% less than those who have a diplomao 50% less likely to have pensions or healthcare planso They are more likely to experience health problems

Rouse/Muenning, 2005: www.centerforpubliceducation.org

44 million can’t read a newspaper or fill out job applicationso Another 55 million MORE can’t read above 8th grade reading level

43% of people with lowest literacy skills live below the government official poverty lineLarry Roberts, Illiteracy on the Rise in America http://www.wsws.org

82% of prison inmates are dropouts85% of juvenile offenders have reading problems70% of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate

http://www.literacybuffalo.com and http://www.proliteracy.org

75% of those claiming welfare are functionally illiterateo A University of California Berkeley Study concluded that increasing the high school graduation

rate by 10% would likely reduce the murder and assault arrest rates by 20%o Same study found increasing the high school completion rate by 1% would save the US up to

$1.4 billion annually in reduced costs from crimehttp://www.covingaliteracy.org/facts.htm

Education and Lifelong Earning(James Walker, Face to Face: The Changing state of Racism Across America)High School Drop Out $608,000High School Graduate $802,000Some College $922,890Associates Degree $1,062,130Bachelors Degree $1,420,850Masters Degree $2,142,440

Time Bomb Video

Statistics

Doctorate $3,012,300