ALERT: Parents of High School Students

by Michael Robinson

According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation American high schools and students face challenges to their persistence. High Schools U.S. graduation and college-readiness rates are unacceptably low.

• Nationwide just over 70 percent of students graduate from high school.
  
• Graduation rates for African-American, Hispanic, and low-income students are lower still, hovering at slightly more than 50 percent.
  
• Even with a diploma, only half of graduates leave high school prepared to succeed in college, career, and life.
  
  

Every student in the U.S. deserves the opportunity to attend a good school.Today, whether moving directly into the workforce or going to college, students leaving high school need the same skills and knowledge to succeed in life. They deserve strong schools that expect, challenge, and support them to do their best—regardless of race, income, or family background.

Improving education is the best way to create equal opportunity for all.The failure to ensure that all young people learn what they need to succeed undermines equality and opportunity--the fundamental values of the United States. Young people risk becoming less engaged, less prepared, and less capable of leading the nation into a brighter future.

How is the Gates Foundation Proposing to assist the development of a solution to an American crisis? They are working to raise high-school graduation and college-readiness rates.We focus our efforts on improving student success for African-American, Hispanic, and low-income students. They believe that all students should graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college, career, and life.

For information visit the Gates Foundation page on their approach: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/high-schools.aspx