An in-depth study by the Associated Press spelled out a bleak future for the United States because of the number of students dropping out of high school.

Nationwide, the study found that one in 10 schools graduates fewer than 60 percent of its students.

Because education is an essential ingredient in getting ahead and in eliminating poverty, the statistic is an indicator of major problems ahead.

The Southern Education Foundation also released a study that found a majority of students enrolled in public schools in 15 Southern states are from low-income families.

The equation is simple:

Lack of education + menial jobs = poverty.

The study concludes that Southern states need to invest more in students or the region's economy is headed for disaster.

One researcher called schools with poor graduation rates "dropout factories."

East Lawrence High School showed up on the list of 42 state schools with graduation rates of 60 percent or less.

Lawrence school officials immediately said East Lawrence's inclusion on the list was a mistake. Superintendent Dexter Rutherford said the study apparently used outdated information from when the school was on the state's caution list a few years back.

Here's where the gloomy school news gets better.

This year East Lawrence is one of five Lawrence County schools that plans to graduate more than 90 percent of its seniors. The turnaround, Superintendent Rutherford said, was the result of "extensive diligence on the part of the faculty..."

That's an astonishing turnaround of a local problem that offers hope to other schools. But first, the dropout problem must become a priority as it did at East Lawrence.

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