South Carolina public school graduation rate near rock bottom : The Beaufort Tribune Newspaper, Beaufort SC Newspapers

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Friday, June 11, 2010
South Carolina public school graduation rate near rock bottom

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South Carolina public school graduation rate near rock bottom

Just 55 percent of high schools students in South Carolina graduate on time.

That’s according to the nationally recognized “Diplomas Count” study, a 50-state annual report released by Education Week in early June.

Minority students in the state face even grimmer odds; only 45 percent of African American students and 39 percent of Hispanic students earn a state diploma in four years. Statewide there were 167 public school students “lost” each day of the school year.

The 2010 “Diplomas Count” report tracked the high school class of 2006-07, the most recent year with complete data, finding that South Carolina continues to lag behind the national average of a 69 percent graduation rate. The state ranks 48th in the nation, ahead of just New Mexico and Nevada.

More troubling, the report indicated that South Carolina only improved its graduation rate by 1.5 percent over the last ten years – a period in which state officials and local districts spent millions of dollars on complex plans to remediate the widespread failures.

The data covers a period before the economic downturn began to impact state funding for schools, suggesting the dropout crisis is the result of governance rather than financial troubles. In 2007 public schools in South Carolina reported over $6.8 billion in operational spending and a further $2.1 billion in spending on infrastructure.

This report is just the latest in a series of publications about plummeting graduation rates. Another, released by the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB), found that South Carolina ranks 50th (dead last) in “promoting power,” a measure of the percentage of 9th grade students who progress to 12th grade in three years. Earlier this year, Education Week reported that South Carolina now leads the nation in rural “Dropout Factories,” a term for failing public schools with a graduation rates consistently below 60 percent.

“The system is obviously broken,” explained Randy Page, President of South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG). “Public schools in South Carolina spend $9 billion a year and do little more than replicate the shameful black/white, poor/rich, and rural/urban divides that already plague our state.” Page and other reform advocates are calling for laws that encourage parental engagement and expand access to instructional choices. “When students are seated in a classroom that really fits their unique learning style and families have driven that process, we can begin to reverse this trend.”

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One Response to “South Carolina public school graduation rate near rock bottom”

Summer Fever says:

June 11, 2010 at 4:58 pm

And the ratings will continue to bottom out until you get leaders in the school districts from OUTSIDE South Carolina who KNOW EDUCATION and CARE about it.

Schools outside of this state are vastly ahead in educating children. Graduates from other states are way ahead in preparation for college in comparison to SC grads.

As long as you hire you own good ol boys and girls who have NO real experience as educators and are flashy but no substance, nothing will improve.

Take a look a BCSD’s “leader” – was she not a drama teacher? Had a career in fashion or something? She didn’t stay in the teaching ranks long, just politicked her way to the top.

Her speeches are canned packages bought from business boutiques that do that kind of stuff. I hear the teachers throughout the district are through with her! Get her done and out!

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