Kali Boatright President & CEO Douglas County Chamber of Commerce Ryan Mahoney Director of Public Policy Georgia Chamber of Commerce Andrew Lewis Chief Programming Officer Georgia Charter Schools Association Charters, Communities & Chambers Breakout Session 2 11:45 – 12:30

“We must understand that in the 21st century, the race for human talent will define the global winners and losers more than any other factor. America’s first priority must be to fully educate, train, and retrain our own people throughout their careers.” Thomas J. Donohue President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Consider the following:

1.2 million students drop out of high school every year. The United States ranks near the bottom in graduation rates among developed nations. Out of every 100 low-income students, fewer than 10 will ultimately graduate from college.

How does this assist you when speaking with a local chamber of commerce?

Annual losses exceed $50 billion in federal and state income taxes for all 23,000,000 U.S. high school dropouts ages A high school dropout earns about $260,000 less over a lifetime than a high school graduate and pays about $60,000 less in taxes Health-related losses for the estimated 600,000 high school dropouts in 2004 totaled at least $58 billion, or nearly $100,000 per student Increasing the high school completion rate by just 1 percent for all men ages would save the U.S. up to $1.4 billion per year in reduced costs from crime

Action Steps for Local Chambers of Commerce: Support for Individual Charter Schools Serve on charter school boards. Encourage employees and peers to serve on charter school boards or volunteer at the school. Loan executive time for business functions of charter schools. Publish charter school events and job opening. Make start-up or expansion grants to charter schools. Provide a facility or loan guarantee to a charter school. Help launch a charter school that trains students for a specific field or industry.

Where to find this information: Corporations, Chambers, and Charters: How Businesses Can Support High-Quality Public Charter Schools Institute for a Competitive Workforce (U.S. Chamber of Commerce) The Social Costs of Inadequate Education TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY