Thursday, 4:30 PM
State: Many students fail to graduate on time
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff
Nearly 40 percent of the state’s urban high school students do not graduate within four years, according to state data released Thursday. More than one-fifth have dropped out, but many others have stayed in school in hopes of graduating in five or six years.
In its first look at what happens to students after four years, the state found that 12 percent of urban high school students from the class of 2006 returned to school for a fifth year. In addition, 1.5 percent got a GED, and 2.2 percent successfully completed coursework but did not pass the MCAS, a graduation requirement.
And, 0.3 percent, the smallest proportion of the 22,242 students who should have graduated from urban high schools last spring, were expelled or ended up in jail.
"This is a huge problem in America, and we’re sleeping through it," Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll said of the low graduation rates in city high schools during a news conference in Boston. "You have to understand the challenges our urban areas face."
