2 Less enchantment, more education.

• Position: ROCK THE VOTE - Dropout rate in New Mexico - Brief article

New Mexico lawmakers long suspected the state's high dropout rate was costing the economy, but only recently did they get a dollar figure. If New Mexico each year could graduate 2,600 more high school students--teens who otherwise might drop out--the state would save $700 million over the life of each graduating class, according to a new Legislative Finance Committee report. Benefits would come from higher incomes, fewer crimes and better health care, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The dropout rate was 4.7 percent in 2013, among the highest in the nation, when 7,185 students in grades seven through 12 left...