650 West North Street    |    PO Box 111    |    Auburn, Indiana 46706  |  260.925.0311
 

Kindergarten-12th Grade - Why It Matters

Goal: DeKalb County students attain outstanding performance as measured by academic, career, and civic achievement.
 
Why It Matters
  • Every child can contribute to society.
  • Investing in children early provides greater long-term returns and is less costly than retraining later in life.
  • The gap in earnings between a high school dropout and a high school graduate is $260,000 over a lifetime (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2008).
  • The high school dropout is two times less likely to vote or participate in community projects (Civic Enterprises, 2006), twice as likely to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and eight times more likely to wind up in prison.
  • Children of dropouts are twice as likely to become dropouts themselves, thereby perpetuating the cycle.
  • According to the 2001 International Adult Literacy Survey, 52% of high school graduates lacked the skills required to do their jobs adequately.
 
DeKalb County Facts
  • Far too many young people who complete high school lack basic skills for job training and college (Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy, June 2008); DeKalb County is no exception.
  • Nearly 60 DeKalb County students failed to complete high school in 2008, resulting in a loss of more than $15M to the DeKalb County economy.
  • Improving kindergarten to 12th grade education is not enough. Children need caring adults in all areas of their lives, safe places, a healthy start, and an effective education that builds marketable skills and offers opportunities to help others (America’s Promise, 2009). It requires the active participation of schools, parents, businesses, community organizations, caring adults and concerned citizens to make a difference for our children in school.
  • Coordinating its work with the Early Childhood and Adult Lifelong Learning action teams, the Kindergarten – 12th Grade Education (K-12) action team is focused on students’ academic, career, and civic achievement at various grade levels. All community members countywide interested in this stage are encouraged to participate and get involved in the process. Contact us to get involved.