These youth are economically, culturally, and ethnically disadvantaged and are at risk of coming out of the schools unprepared for further education or for the types of work available. Although the rates of dropping out of school have held steady at about 25 percent since the 1960's, the real mean earnings of young male dropouts declined 41.6 percent, with the greatest declines being for black and Hispanic youth. Indications are that the country is on its way to creating a soup kitchen labor force -a permanent underclass -- in a post industrial economy. During the 1980's, at a time when public recognition of this problem was growing, the Federal share of the total education bill declined so that at present it is sufficient only to serve 1 of 5 low income children, 2 of 5 in need of remediation, 1 of 4 in need of bilingual education, and 1 in 20 in need of job training. At the same time, local and State Spending on public schools has increased substantially, yet only an estimated 5 percent of State funds are being spent on services to at risk youth. A 1987-1988 survey of 54 committees on Excellence-in-Education in 32 States showed that only 15 had even a single recommendation for educational reforms aimed at at risk youth. Further, while all State showed an awareness of the problem posed by these youth, only 14 had taken action on the problem, and only 11 show real progress in addressing the problem. Recommendations for reform are provided, and supplemental information is appended. 76 references.