The Children Really Isn’t Learning

Shocking new statistics came out yesterday about the dropout rates at American high schools. [ABC News]

A study issued by America�s Promise Alliance, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, found the problems were especially intense in the inner cities.

17: The number of U.S. cities with graduation rates lower than 50 percent.

1.2 million: The number of U.S. high school students who drop out every year.

Colin Powell: �When more than 1 million students a year drop out of high school, it�s more than a problem, it�s a catastrophe.�

81.5 percent: The percent of public school students in the Baltimore suburbs who graduate from high school.

34.6 percent: The percent of public school students in Baltimore city schools who graduate.

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced a new plan yesterday to get all 50 states to calculate their dropout rates the same way. [NY Times]

Until now, states could calculate dropout rates using whatever fuzzy math they liked. Most, naturally, tried to downplay their problems. For example, North Carolina�s formula was so convoluted that it said 95 percent of its students graduated; using a more up-to-date method, that rate dropped to 68 percent.

If you can�t read this, find a teacher.

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