GAINESVILLE - Georgia's Partnership for Excellence in Education told Gainesville business leaders Thursday that high school dropouts mean lost revenues.
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for Excellence presented the "Economics of Education" at the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, the 9th stop in a 12-city tour that began August 14th.
Partnership Vice President Diane Hopkins said Georgia needs to get that high school drop out rate to drop.
"With Hall County included we are foregoing about $1-billion a year; it's a huge loss for this region if we don't pay attention to getting kids through school preparing them for the work force or preparing them for college," Hopkins said.
Hopkins said Georgia Southern University produced the dropout rate impact figures that measure the cost of lost wages, tax supported public services and tax revenue loss.
Gainesville School Board Chairwoman Lee Highsmith said she wanted to see more diversity at the meeting.
"I just looked around the room and when you look at the faces of the people attending the meeting they weren't representative of the community," Highsmith said.
Chamber member Doug Carter said with Gainesville's diversity everyone needs to understand why education is important.
"We have got to find more and more ways top make all children and all families understand and value the importance of education," Carter said.
Thursday
August 28th, 2025
2:54PM
