by Lesley Rials

You might say that Richard Marquez is especially well-suited for his job as president and CEO of TEXANS CAN!, a Dallas-based nonprofit that operates alternative public high schools for at-risk students throughout the state.

Marquez is a high-school dropout himself.

Like many of his students, Marquez quit school to start working. Seven years later, after being drafted into the military—where he earned his GED degree—he decided he wanted and needed to go to college. That choice changed his life for the better, he realized, so he decided to help TEXANS CAN! students change their lives as well.

Marquez’s résumé boasts 33 years in education. His roles have ranged from elementary-school principal to special adviser to the U.S. secretary of education, for whom he established the first long-range grant to study the dropout problem.

According to a Vanderbilt University study, dropouts cost the country more than $325 billion in lost wages, productivity, and taxes over their lifetimes. As a result, Marquez says, he’s tirelessly advocating for funds and support for alternative education. Though the state provides the money to operate TEXANS CAN! schools, the group has to raise outside funds for the likes of repairing facilities and building new classrooms.

Marquez and TEXANS CAN! may be on to something with their unique focus on at-risk students. In 2007, their schools graduated 932 former high school dropouts.

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