There are 7.9 million low-income children in the United States and studies show that 83% (6.6 million) of these children are at increased risk of dropping out of high school because they can't read proficiently by the end of third grade. Researchers say that the ability to read at grade level by third grade is crucial to determining whether the student will be succeessful in school. Studies had shown that for every student who does not complete high school, our society loses an estimated $260,000 in earnings, taxes and productivity. Baker, the author of a new report from the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), said that a “21.7% increase in per-pupil spending throughout all 12 school-age years for children from low-income families is large enough to eliminate the education attainment gap between children from low-income and non-poor families.” Baker's study show that “Increasing per-pupil spending by 10% in all 12 school-age years increases probability of high school graduation by 7 percentage points for all students, and by roughly 10 percentage points for non-poor children,” One of the places where this is a major problem is Philadelphia, PA. Research show that 65% of the 4th graders in Pennsylavania are able to read at grade level while only 35% of the fourth graders in Philadelphia are able to read at grade level. According to the most recent study, 67% of the students in Philadelphia graduate on time, 33% are able to read at grade level (as measured by state test performance), and only 19% of the students meet state standards in math.