The Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board released a study today that, somewhat unsurprisingly, has some pretty depressing findings. For example, from the report's release, we see that:

The report notes that Greater Philadelphia is able to lure good, high-paying employers to the area, but faces a growing gap between the essential needs of businesses and the skills of the workforce. The problem is especially acute in Philadelphia, where 52.2 percent of the population falls below the literacy standard required by businesses – meaning more than half of all adults struggle to follow written instructions or complete a form, such as a job application. That compares with 37.9 percent throughout Pennsylvania.

Half of Philadelphia cannot do something like adequately fill out a job application... That is a surreal number.

We go through these debates about taxes, and how much they matter. The point isn't that taxes make some sort of difference. Sure they do. But, there is little question that there are a whole host of other factors that are just as, or more, important, including things that lower city revenues make impossible to fulfill. For example, as this report makes clear, investing in an educated workforce is vitally important to real, sustainable, and widespread economic growth. But to make that investment, we have to collect money to pay for it, one way or another.

And, it is a smart thing to do. Because besides the basic morality of helping adults join the workforce, there is a clear payoff for that sort of investment:

An $84 million investment ($12 million annually for the next seven years) in adult literacy programs would produce $370 million in taxes and savings. How?

Investing in adult workforce literacy produces increased dollars for our community in two ways:

1) Increased tax revenue: The more people who work in Philadelphia, the more the City collects in wage taxes. And, statistics show that the higher education one has, the greater their likelihood of gaining employment and the higher their salary.

The result: a $12 million a year investment in literacy programs with proven results will impact roughly 3,117 additional people each year – producing $423,818 in tax revenue for each group of students each year for the City.

Over 7 years, this will amount to $11,866,904 in additional tax revenue.

2) Decrease in social service spending: High school drop-outs cost our community money, as it has to pay for services such as cash assistance, food stamps, the probability of using unemployment insurance, the probability of incarceration and court costs, among others…

• The Center for Labor Market Studies estimates the annual cost per high school drop-out per year in Philadelphia is $6,799.
• The investment in literacy programs often helps people who were once dependent on government services, and significantly increases their probability of achieving employment and wage gains.
• The result is our community saves an estimated $21,130,143 a year for each group of students who enroll in adult workforce literacy classes.
• 3,117 (amount of workers no longer needing benefits) * $6,799 (average cost our community pays in benefits)
• Total benefits: $370 million = (total increase in wage taxes over 7 years) + (total eduction in costs over 7 years) – (investment of $84 million).

12 million dollars a year equals 370 million dollars in savings down the line. That is a pretty big number. Of course, some of the above savings wouldn't be realized by Philly's budget itself- it would come in the form of Federal or State programs. But this is the type of program (along with many other things, such as helping people complete college that they have already started) that we have to spend money on if we want Philadelphia to be a vibrant place for all of its residents.