By GAVIN OFF, Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON -- The road for a high school dropout often leads to low-paying jobs and jail, yet some 1.2 million students choose that path each year, said officials with America's Promise Alliance, a dropout prevention organization.

Hurricane Katrina victims. Source: Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Multiple Cause of Death data, 2005.Cause of death of all 825 victims (Multiple causes of death were recorded for some victims.):-- 423..... Drowning-- 260 .... Physical injuries (such as head wounds, fractures)

Contrary to widely accepted perception, most of the Hurricane Katrina victims were not African American, according to recently released data.

Many of Hurricane Katrina's victims were senior citizens who became trapped by floodwaters and drowned in their homes, according to a newly released accounting of the 2005 storm.