Our nation's public school system is in crisis. Governors, advocates of education reform, and business leaders around the country are holding summits to brainstorm ways to improve it, particularly our high schools, which are only producing 7 in 10 graduates each year, and as few as 4 in 10 college graduates. In Ohio, our college graduation rate is even lower; only around 3 in 10 students in our state graduate from college within 10 years.

If we ignore the potential of our struggling high school students and graduates, we run the risk of asking them to join the nearly one million low-wage workers in Ohio who are already supporting their families on slim incomes, and striving to meet their basic needs. If we do support these students' potential, we're empowering them to join the ranks of college graduates who will make one million dollars more over a lifetime than those who don't graduate from college.

By identifying best practices and research-based approaches, and advocating for changes based on these, KnowledgeWorks Foundation supports policies and recommendations that will transform Ohio's high schools for the better, creating lasting, systemic change.