LAUSD Says Graduation Rate Improved Last Year
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The dropout rate among Los Angeles Unified School District students in the high school class of 2014-15 continued a downward trend, while the graduation rate moved upward, according to figures released Tuesday.
The dropout rate among LAUSD students who began ninth grade together in 2011-12 was 16.7 percent, down from 17.4 percent for the class of 2013-14, according to the state Department of Education.
The graduation rate for students in the class of 2014-15 was 72.2 percent, up from 70.2 percent from the previous year, according to the state.
For Los Angeles County Office of Education schools, the graduation rate for the class of 2014-15 was 78.7 percent, up from 77.9 percent the previous year.
LAUSD officials noted that graduation rates increased across all of the district's major ethnic groups.
"I am very proud of the work we are doing -- not only in raising our graduation rates, but in preparing our graduates to enter college or the workforce," Superintendent Michelle King said. "Our students, parents, faculty and staff have worked together as a team, and they can take great satisfaction in this accomplishment."
Statewide, the graduation rate climbed for the sixth year in a row, according to state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
A total of 82.3 percent of the state's students who started high school in 2011-12 graduated with their class in 2015, up 1.3 percentage points from the previous year, according to the state.
"This is encouraging news any way you look at it, especially since the increase is occurring as we are introducing much more rigorous academic standards," Torlakson said. "Statewide, our students are benefiting from the additional revenues flowing into our schools. We are bringing back relevant and engaging classes in science, civics, arts and Career Technical Education that were slashed during the Great Recession.
"I am also pleased to see the first signs of the narrowing of the pernicious and persistent achievement gap. But a lot of work remains, and our schools still need additional and stable resources."
The report also showed a statewide lowering of the dropout rate. Of the students who started high school in 2011-12, 10.7 percent dropped out, down from 11.5 percent the previous year.
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