If one in four high-school dropouts from mid-Georgia had gone on to graduate from high school, they could have collectively made $1 billion more in wages, according to a recent Macon.com article. That is a staggering number. It not only represents a loss in income for the area, but a loss in buying power and local taxes. I can only imagine what the potential income could have been had just 10% of those students also gone on to college.

Stories like these remind me of how much better we could do as a society by placing greater value on education. In a previous blog, I talked about how illiteracy impacts life span, and now we see how it affects income. Living longer and making more money should be two great motivators to get educated, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. From reading the classics to understanding baseball statistics to being able to effectively communicate with people all over the world on this blog, none of that would be possible without an education. Too many times we take our education for granted, but I’d like to take this time to thank everyone who has ever helped me learn, and thanks to those who help me continue to learn every day. And a special thanks to all of you who are making a difference in the lives of the children you teach.