High school drop-out rate

[shootingstar]

Haven't searched around how Canada compares. But I know here in Alberta (that's where I am right now), they recently raised the minimum age for high school drop-outs to 17 yrs. (from 16 yrs.), because they want a mechanism to keep students in school.

For the U.S.:

"[T]he U.S. is the only industrialized country in which young people are less likely than their parents to graduate from high school" (The New York Times, May 26, 2009, p.A19). "The U.S., which long enjoyed the world's top high school graduation rate, has fallen to 13th place behind such countries as South Korea, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia" (The Week, Nov. 14, 2008, p.20). In a study of "applied learning and problem-solving skills of 15-year-olds in 30 industrialized countries, the U.S. ranked 25th out of the 30 in math and 24th in science" (The New York Times, April 22, 2009, p.A27). Furthermore, "30 million Americans have 'below basic' literacy skills" (The Week, April 9, p.5). "[S]tate dropout rates are highest in the South, where Georgia (22.1 percent), Florida (20.1 percent), Texas (18.5 percent) and North Carolina (17.6 percent) lead the way" (The New York Times, May 9, 2009, p.A18).
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrob...=oid%3A1101408

I realize education isn't everything nor helps a person from doing stupid things in life, but alot of jobs and to even marginally assess validity of info. (now that we have the glut on the Internet), it helps to have mastered some basic skills.