“One in seven people between the ages of 16-24 are not in school or working, a new report finds, and it cost taxpayers $93.7 billion in government support and lost tax revenue in 2011 alone.”

Disconnected youth cost everyone, but especially themselves. Work has been the most rewarding thing in my life besides parenting.You inherit self respect and self sufficiency.

I think there are lessons more important than content that we teach in schools. Showing up. Persistence. Self respect.Honesty. Work ethic. These are all important parts of living life.

When schools pass along a student to become someone else’s problem it becomes everyone’s problem. However, schools are penalized for keeping these disenfranchised students in schools because they often do poorly on tests. You get what you measure, however, the measurements themselves incentivize schoools to cast off those who don’t measure up.