WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The first National Education Summit was held in Washington during the weekend by the nation's governors to address a 32 percent high school dropout rate.
One-third of high school students drop out after entering ninth grade, only 40 of every 100 high school graduates goes on to college, with only 27 of them continuing into their second year and only 18 graduate from a two- or four-year college, according to Achieve Inc., a nonprofit bipartisan foundation created by the governors to help states raise academic standards.
U.S. high schools failing to prepare students for college and the workplace costs the U.S. economy at least $16 billion a year in lost productivity, according to a video shown at the meeting, the Washington Times reported Sunday.
"America's high schools are obsolete," said keynote speaker Microsoft founder Bill Gates. "By obsolete, I don't mean our high schools are broken, flawed and under-funded, though a case could be made for every one of those points.
"By obsolete, I mean that our high schools, even when they're working exactly as designed, cannot teach all our kids what they need to know today."
