U.S. income gap is really an education gap

Update: A handful of solutions ... your ideas welcome.

A new study shows that that the U.S. income gap is growing wider. From the New York Times (via the Chronicle).

Income inequality grew significantly in 2005, with the top 1 percent of Americans — those with incomes that year of more than $348,000 — receiving their largest share of national income since 1928, analysis of newly released tax data shows.

The top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, also reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.

This should surprise no one.

Those with rare skills who find themselves in great demand -- CEOs, athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs -- are rewarded today like never before.

Meanwhile, the blue-collar manufacturing jobs that built the middle class are mostly gone.

But I would argue that these income measures primarily reflect the education gap in this country, and the numbers will get worse.

Every year, we churn out another generation of undereducated, incapable young people, who are doomed to a lifetime of menial, minimum-wage service jobs.

One-third of all high school students drop out, and among Hispanics and African-Americans, the number is closer to 50 percent.

Fifty percent!

It's pretty clear that in today's economy, a high school diploma is no guarantee of decent employment. And among some populations, half of those turning 18 each year don't even have that.

In fact, in some urban school districts the dropout rate can reach as high as 80 percent, with those who remain scoring well below average on standard testing and having little chance of moving beyond high school.

In a recent study, a Washington education group reported that one year's class of dropouts in California will cost the state $38.5 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over the lifetime of those students. No wonder that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called the city's incredible drop-out rate the "civil rights issue of our time."

The mayor says that more than 60 percent of LA's black and Hispanic students fail to earn a diploma. Given the size of the LA Unified School District's population -- there are 174,000 high school students enrolled this year, and roughly 84 percent are black or Hispanic -- that statistic is just flat-out shocking.

What kind of lifestyle can you maintain with no high school degree (especially in California)? What kind of drive or determination will these young people have to better their lives once school is no longer an option?

And most importantly, what kind of emphasis will these students place on education when they have children?

Ignorance begets ignorance and the cycle continues -- ever-widening with each generation.

The legacy of these students' failure -- and ours -- will haunt the U.S. in coming years. There is no other conclusion you can reach.