The socioeconomic and racial achievement gaps in education are a major civil rights concern in our country, but there are also severe economic consequences to these inequities according to a new report from McKinsey & Company.  The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools, examines the dimensions and economic impact of four distinct gaps in education: (1) between the United States and other nations, (2) between black and Latino students and white students, (3) between students of different income levels, and (4) between similar students schooled in different systems or regions.

The report points out that while Massachusetts has the highest achievement in the nation on many measures, it also has the highest achievement gaps based on race.  Black and Latino students lag 8 times behind their white peers in math and 3 to 4 times behind in English in our state , according to the report.  These achievement gaps reflect an underutilization of human capital that is extremely costly and impose the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession-one substantially larger than the one the country is currently experiencing.  For individuals, avoidable shortfalls in academic achievement result in lower earnings, poor health, and higher rates of incarceration.  The report finds that if the US had closed racial achievement gaps and brought all students to world-leading performance by 1998, our nation's GDP in 2008 would have been between $310 billion and $525 billion higher.  If socio-economic achievement gaps were closed between students from families with less than $25,000 in annual household income and those above by 1998, 2008 US GDP would be between $400 billion and $670 billion higher.  The report provides ample evidence closing these gaps is one of the most critical steps we must take to rebuild our economy!