Ray Marshall wrote: > When a dropout rate of 47% is reported, is that a true > dropout rate, or perhaps is it more reflective of a family's > move to another school district or state? Or, perhaps might > it be just an unauthorized "vacation" from school?
The MPS themselves reported a 51% failure to graduate in four years rate a while back. I used a figure cited in the Star Tribune: that the MPS had a 52.8 percent graduation rate for 2002-03. I assume that this figure would take into account the movement of students in and out of the District. I also assumed that if 52.8% graduate, then 47.2% do not. I'll leave it to Steve Brandt to explain why this would not be a reasonable assumption. Regardless, the 52.8 graduation rate is appalling and was not denied by the school district. See: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/5205312.html What we should not do is to go into denial and rationalize away this problem by questioning the data, nor should we be lulled into complacency if the figure should turn out to be "only" 37%. We should be ashamed to accept anything close to this figure. I believe that people do so only by falsely placing the blame on parents or poverty. It's the schools that are responsible for this failure, not the parents and not poverty. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
