INTRO – The dropout rate for state public schools is at a record low. George Olsen has more.
A press release from the Department of Public Instruction reports that 2.45 percent of high school students dropped out in the 2012-2013 school year, down from the previous year’s 3.01 percent. The Department also reports the number of high school dropouts has fallen 50% over the last five years. In the 2007-2008 school year over 22,000 students dropped out compared to just over 11,000 in the latest report. The number of dropouts fell across all grade levels and ethnic groups. The press release also noted the cohort graduation rate, which follows a group of ninth graders across four years’ time and tracks the percentage who graduate in that period, was at 82.5 percent for the class of 2013, also a record high. I’m George Olsen.