High-school graduation rates are climbing in New York City, but the five boroughs still trail the state in churning out graduates, according to figures released yesterday.
Editor’s Note: To search your school’s graduation rates, click on the PDF, and hit Control F to search for your county. Schools are listed alphabetically by county. PDF of New York School’s Graduation Rates
The city’s graduation figure for June was 52.2 percent, up from 49.8 percent in 2006 and 46.5 percent in 2005. With GEDs, it nearly reached 60 percent in ’06 and was 58.2 percent in ’05.
Mayor Bloomberg attributed the success, in part, to his controversial takeover of the city school system, an initiative that is scheduled to end next year unless the state Legislature approves its continuation.
“When we won control over the public schools in June 2002, as you know, graduation rates had been stagnant for a decade,” the mayor said. “Tens of thousands of kids each year were being cheated out of the education they needed and the recognition of all the work they had been doing.”
The four-year high-school graduation rate was 55.8 percent in 2007, 62 percent with GEDs, according to the state Department of Education.
The statewide graduation rate neared 69 percent for June and inched toward 71 percent for 2007, including August grads, who were counted for the first time since the state began calculating grad rates after fighting City Hall.
The fate of mayoral control, which has received mixed reviews in the education community, is uncertain in Albany. But while the city’s graduation rate still lags behind the state’s, it leads other large cities in the state, which averaged 47.3 percent this year.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s 2007 rate was 55.1 percent, including students who took five years to graduate but not including GEDs. And Los Angeles came in at 66.4 percent, including summer-school grads but not GEDs.
The city’s schools also trail the rest of the state in graduating special-needs students. Only 19.8 percent of those with disabilities graduated in four years, compared to 39.3 percent statewide. And some 23.5 percent of those learning English graduated, slightly behind the state average of 25.2 percent.
Another area of concern for Bloomberg is the racial and ethnic gap. In 2007, 68.8 percent of whites graduated, compared with 43 percent of Hispanics, 47.2 percent of blacks and 70.9 percent of Asian-Americans.
The graduation data is the most accurate to date, with students now tracked by identification numbers starting in ninth grade and the state no longer relying on often inflated school-district estimates.
The department plans to audit these latest rates, a key measure of individual schools’ success or failure.
“I don’t think you can overstate the value of a high-school diploma,” said Bloomberg.
“Every expert and every study agree that graduating high school can be a significant – perhaps the most significant – dividing line between a life of struggle and a life of success.”
Additional reporting by Brendan Scott in Albany