In the United States, 857 students drop out of high school every hour. This is the message that a College Board created exhibit at the National Mall wanted to convey, with 857 empty desks set up in a row. 

High school drop outs have much higher unemployment rates and lower median earnings, and are also much more likely to be on welfare. They commit 75% of crimes in the United States. 

If the dropouts from the class of 2010 had graduated from high school, this would have resulted in $5.3 billion in earnings, $6.7 billion in GDP, and $499 million in state tax revenue -- just graduating a half of one class of dropouts would save the government $45 billion a year. 

It is time for the United States to fix -- really fix -- the problems with education, and address the drop out rate. Please tell the United States government to do just that! 

Please address the United States drop out rate. 857 students drop out of high school every hour, leading them to higher unemployment, lower median earnings, and making it much more likely that they will be on welfare or commit a crime. It is time to combat this problem immediately!