Students Dropping Out of High School Reaches Epidemic Levels

In several of the largest school systems across the country — from Baltimore to Cleveland to Atlanta and Oakland, Calif. — half of the students are dropping out. And the problem is not only in the big cities. A recent study by the Department of Education found that 31 percent of American students were dropping out or failing to graduate in the nation's largest 100 public school districts. The implications from dropping out of high school are enormous, including a higher risk of poverty and even an abbreviated life span. So why do they drop out? Eli Thomasson, 16, of Georgia, explains why he wanted to drop out of school earlier this year. "I was just tired of school, you know. I didn't like it. I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to school anymore," Thomasson said.