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Karen Bouffard, The Detroit News, April 1, 2008

Detroit has the worst graduation rate among principal school districts serving the country's 50 largest cities, according to a national study released this morning by a coalition of education policy makers.

The region as a whole placed 11th among the country's large metropolitan areas, according to the report by Washington, D.C.-based America's Promise Alliance.

Graduation rates are controversial since they can be calculated in a variety of ways, but the study follows several others that have concluded Detroit has a serious dropout problem to address. A study released Feb. 25 by Michigan State University researchers found a 31.9 graduation rate for Detroit Public Schools students--just 25 percent for boys, and 39 percent for girls.

Detroit Public Schools spokesman Steve Wasko declined to comment on the study.

Detroit parent Chris White, a member of the grass roots group Committee to Restore Hope to Detroit Public Schools, said he finds it hard to believe that only a quarter of Detroit students graduate. But whatever the number, there's a serious dropout problem.

"I have to question the numbers within the study; however, that doesn't negate the fact that district officials have to develop good programs that encourage learning, especially at the high school level," White said. "Even if the graduation rate were 50 percent, that's not good enough. We have lot of work to do."

The Washington, D.C.-based America's Promise Alliance looked at the country's top 50 urban centers and found an average graduation rate of 51.8 percent. The Mesa, Ariz., school district had the best graduation rate, with 71.8 percent. Detroit Public Schools brought up the rear with a 24.9 percent graduation rate.

The state Department of Education reported a 66.8 percent graduation rate for Detroit Public Schools, and 85.7 percent statewide, for the Class of 2006. But state officials expect those rates to drop this summer when Michigan implements a new calculation method for the Class of 2007. Previously the state compared the number of students who were seniors in the fall with the number that graduated the following June.
Now the state this year began using the "cohort" method of calculation, which looks at how many entering freshmen graduate four years later.

The study released today used the cohort method to analyze graduation rates for the Class of 2004. Nationwide, the study found that students in suburban districts have a 74.9 percent chance of graduating, compared with just a 60.4 chance for urban students. Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had a graduation rate lower than 50 percent in the principal school district serving the city.

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