Colin Powell, foot soldiers battle America's dropout 'catastrophe' - CNN.com: ...The number sounds shockingly low, but it's actually not far off the national average. A 2008 study by America's Promise Alliance, a group founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, concluded that only 52 percent of students in the nation's 50 largest school systems graduate in four years. About 57 percent of Hispanic and 53 percent of African-American students graduate with a regular diploma in four years, according to the study, which puts the national graduation rate at 70 percent.
'Finishing high school is absolutely basic to being a success at any place in our society. We can't afford this,' Powell said.
"If we lose these youngsters from our educational system, it doesn't mean they're all going to jail," Powell said. "It just means they're not going to have the same earning potential as they would if they finished school. And ultimately that will affect them, and it will affect the nation."
