OHIO -- Prosecutor Bates: Dropouts Fueling Violent Crime
Mar 18th 2009
TOLEDO, OHIO -- Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates today released a report highlighting Ohio's high school dropout rates and its connection to violent crime.
She also called on Ohio's Congressional delegation to support quality early education initiatives proposed in the upcoming 2010 budget as the best way to improve graduation rates.
The report, prepared by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Ohio, shows that by increasing graduation rates by 10 percentage points, 108 murders and 3,200 aggravated assaults will be prevented in Ohio every year.
The new report, entitled "School or the Streets," includes research showing that high quality pre-kindergarten is the most effective deterrent against high school dropouts. In one study detailed in the report, early education is shown to increase graduation rates by up to 44 percent.
"If we can boost our graduation rates we can significantly cut the cycle of violence. Research shows that quality early education is critical to increasing graduation rates resulting in a reduction of crime," said Prosecutor Bates.
Nearly 70 percent of all inmates in our nation's prisons failed to earn a high school diploma. Research shows that high school dropouts are three and a half times more likely than graduates to be arrested and eight times more likely to be incarcerated. Increasing Ohio's graduation rates from an estimated 76 percent to 86 percent would yield more than 15,700 additional graduates annually.
A long-term study of Chicago's Child-Parent Centers, a high-quality early education program, showed that kids left out of the program were 70 percent more likely to have been arrested for a violent crime by age 18, compared to those who participated in the program.
Prosecutor Bates said, "Law enforcement is asking Congresswoman Kaptur to champion increased funding for Head Start and quality childcare and, in turn, cut our crime levels. Far too often, today's dropouts are tomorrow's criminals."
Research shows that increasing graduation rates also saves taxpayer money. Raising male graduation rates by ten percent would produce $252 million in annual crime-related savings and $213 million in additional annual earnings.
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