This past year, according to statistics from the MississippiDepartment of Education, 13,000 students dropped out of high schoolacross the state – over 26 percent! To put it another way, one ofevery four students sitting in a classroom chose to give up ratherthan earn a high school degree.

Some 2,000 parents, educators and businessmen and women gatheredThursday in Jackson to listen and to discuss ways to changeattitudes. They found no easy solutions, nor any quick-fix methods.They did find that these 13,000 kids were costing state taxpayersmillions of dollars each year in lost opportunity, lost wages,higher law enforcement and medical costs.

Statistics shared with the group found that on average, a highschool dropout earns $9,200 less per year than high schoolgraduates. Those same youth are 10 times more likely to end up injail.

As part of a program called “On the Bus,” the MississippiDepartment of Education has a goal to reduce the dropout rate by 50percent. State Superintendent Hank Bounds is calling on communitiesto do their part by actively working with their local schoolsystems to develop programs to encourage kids stay in school.

Why is this project important? Locally, it is an economicdevelopment issue.

With other parts of the state celebrating the landing of newindustries such as the Toyota plant near Tupelo and recent effortsin the Starkville/Columbus area, we here in Southwest Mississippihave been left behind.

Quite frankly, in Southwest Mississippi, we do not have theemployment base to fill the jobs required to operate a Toyotaplant. What we can offer, however, is a better-educated workforcethat attracts smaller high-tech industries.

Unfortunately, high school dropout numbers on a SouthwestMississippi regional basis are not so good. Of the 14 schooldistricts in the region, eight are above the statewide average.

If Southwest Mississippi is to ever to compete as a region, wemust find a way to improve education levels. Getting “On the Bus”is a good place to start.

Write to Bill Jacobs at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven MS 39602,or send e-mail to bjacobs@dailyleader.com.