Facts and Stats

Denver Kids, Inc. students:
• 972 students served at 133 Denver Public Schools during the 2009-2010 school year
• Denver Kids, Inc. averages a 90% graduation rate (compared to 52% DPS graduation rate)
• Over 60% were the first in their family to graduate high school
• 88% continued on to post-secondary education in 2010 (compared to 49% of all DPS 2009 graduates)
• 88% live at or below the poverty line
• Over 98% live in single parent homes

Did you know..

In Denver Public Schools -
• 72.49% of students live at or below the poverty line (2010-2011 Free/Reduced Lunch, DPS)
• Less than 50% of students are proficient on the state’s reading measures (The 2010 Denver Plan)
• Less than 40% are proficient in math and writing (The 2010 Denver Plan)
• 80% of students are of color and there is a persistent 35 point achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their Anglo and Asian-American counterparts (The 2010 Denver Plan)

Community wide -
• Children living in poverty have a greater likelihood of dropping out of school. (Children in Poverty 2009) 
• An estimated 16% of Denver's 16-24 year-olds are high school dropouts, totaling over 11,200 people. (Call To Action October 2009)
• 13.8% - unemployment rate for high school dropouts, compared to 8.7% for high school graduates (US Dept of Labor, Dec 2011) 
• Colorado residents who do not finish high school are costing our state at least $3.4 billion each year in lost earning potential. (The High Cost of Not Graduating High School, September 2005
• On average, a high school dropout earns $7,200 less per year than a high school graduate with no additional education. (The High Cost of Not Graduating High School, September 2005)
• Over a lifetime, the loss in earning potential between a high school dropout and a student who goes on to finish college is $1.1 million. (The High Cost of Not Graduating High School, September 2005)
• When a Denver resident earns a high school diploma, it cuts that person’s chances of experiencing poverty in half. (Call To Action October 2009)
• Nationally, 68% of America's prison inmates are high school dropouts. As a result, an estimated $319 million of Colorado’s corrections budget is spent adjudicating and incarcerating dropouts. (The High Cost of Not Graduating High School, September 2005)
• One high school dropout can be expected to cost the public in excess of $200,000 over the course of his/her life (unemployment, welfare, health care, and the criminal justice system). (“Denver Dropouts – A Time for Action Brief” by the Denver Mayor’s Office for Education and Children)