Crime and Education Statistical Rates

One thing that Joe DiMaggio believed in was education. He was particularly interested in assisting learning-disabled students, along with academically gifted but financially disadvantaged kids. Proceeds from the Joe DiMaggio Award Dinner go to these students who attend Xaverian High School and the Loyola School in New York City. Located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn , Xaverian is a private, nonsectarian boys' school with over a 98 percent graduation rate for its seniors.

One of the reasons it is so important to complete your education is to avoid becoming a government statistic. The U. S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics claims that serious violent crime levels are down since 1993. Also declining are property crime rates. Interestingly, firearm-related crime did plummet since 1993, but then slightly increased in the year 2005. However, the estimated number of arrests for adult drug abuse violations has been increasing, while the number for juveniles has stabilized.

When it comes to drop outs -- let’s take a look at private and public high school students who left high school between the beginning of one school year and the beginning of the next without earning a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or high school diploma or its equivalent. The following rates describe the percentage of youth ages 15 through 24 in the United States who dropped out of grades 10–12 from either public or private schools in the 12 months between one October and the next (e.g., October 2004 to October 2005). The measure provides information about the rate at which U.S. high school students are leaving school without a successful outcome.

Around four of every 100 students who were enrolled in high school as of October 2004 left school before October 2005. They did not complete high school. This represents a decrease in the event dropout rate from 4.7 percent to 3.8 percent between 2004 and 2005. Overall, since 1972, event dropout rates have trended downward, from 6.1 percent in 1972 to 3.8 percent in 2005.
Between the month of October 2004 and 2005, both Black and Hispanic high school students were more likely to drop out than were students who were Whites or Asian/Pacific Islanders. Dropout rates for Blacks and Hispanics were 7.3 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, compared with rates of 2.8 percent for Whites and 1.6 percent for Asians/Pacific Islanders.

Anyone who is interested in donating to the Joe Dimaggio Award fund can do so here. The recent awards dinner was a true example of selfless people who contributed, many of whom were friends of my family's business, The Basile Builder's Group, in Manhattan.
(http://www.joedimaggioaward.com/donate/index_donate.htm)