Levy would finance battle against Spokane high-school dropout rate

A high school dropout can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in social services, one study shows. Dropouts are 63 times more likely to be institutionalized and three times more likely to be unemployed than high school graduates.

Yet one in three kids in Spokane drops out of high school, a ratio Spokane leaders call a “crisis,” and one that needs a plan of action.

Volunteers will gather signatures starting Tuesday to put a levy before voters in August to establish a Children’s Investment Fund. The money would be used to support early childhood learning, abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs, mentoring programs and before- and after-school activities.

Jody Lawrence-Turner The Spokesman-Review

Full Story: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/feb/21/levy-would-finance-dropout-rate-battle/