High School Dropouts Cost State Billions

This article was in the February 28th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. It describes how California dropout rates are increasing and cost the state a large amount of money because over the course of their lives high school dropouts don't pay as much in taxes, need state funded health care, and turn to crime. Two of the methods California plans to execute to reduce dropout rates are requiring school for students age 6-18 and increasing state funding to each student.
I personally don't agree with the first of these methods. I feel 16 is the right age for students to have the right to dropout. As someone going into teaching, of course I feel education is important. However, I feel students should have the freedom to be able to dropout. When I went to public school, I knew many people who just had no desire to be in school and were destined to dropout. I also knew people who did try but just weren't good students. While graduating high school is important, I don't feel it's vital. It's very possible for people to be successful without a high school diploma. I also have my doubts about increasing funding. In my participation in government class, I learned that NYC spends 7 thousand dollars per student per year, but the NY Board of Education is very much flawed. The money has to be spent wisely. Overall, I feel California should do all in it's power to help students graduate high school, but it must also be accepted that dropout rates may still remain high and it's not necessarily a bad thing.