Exclusive: Gen. Powell Says Dropout Rate a 'Moral Catastrophe'
Collin and Alma Powell discuss l Grad Nation launch.
March 2, 2010— -- Gen. Colin Powell has led battles around the world, but now he's taking on a desperate fight on the homefront: what he calls the "moral catastrophe" of dropout rates for U.S. high school students.
Every year, approximately 1.3 million students drop out of high school , according to America's Promise Alliance, an advocacy group. That's about 7,200 for every school day.
"We all pay for it," Powell told George Stephanopoulos in a "Good Morning America" exclusive interview. "It's not only a moral catastrophe, it's an economic problem. … It's a security problem."
Powell said that other countries have invested heavily in their youth, and that America can't afford to fall behind.
"So it is a moral and economic imperative for us to deal with this crisis," he said.
The comments came after Powell, alongside his wife Alma, stood with President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan Monday to announce the formation of Grad Nation, a 10-year campaign to "reverse the dropout crisis and enable our children to be prepared for success in college, work and life," according to America's Promise Alliance's Web site.
The campaign has stated two solid if ambitious goals: to ensure that that 90 percent of today's fourth-graders graduate from high school on time and to help America become the world leader in proportion of college graduates by 2020. Currently, around 70 percent of fourth-graders are expected to graduate on time.
"We know that the success of every American will be tied more closely than ever before to the level of education they achieve," Obama said at the announcement. "The jobs will go to the people with the knowledge and the skills to do them. It's that simple."
Obama has put the government's money where his mouth is. The president announced $900 million in government grants will be distributed to help transform underperforming schools.
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