You must be kidding - once again deceptive statistics hide the real issues. Ask any high school core subject teacher and they will tell you that the only way that a kid can fail their class is if they cut or fail to come to school at all. As long as they are in class, they pass them through because they don't want to deal with the pressure from parents or administration. As for the HSA requirements, read my other post. tests have been watered down and the bridge projects are an insult to the students who truly deserve to graduate. If we really had a rigorous program of study in this state, I would estimate that a more realistic graduation rate would be about 50%. Just ask the college admission folks about the quality of students that they are getting from our schools. Don't get me wrong, there are some great schools and teachers out there who refuse to push kids through, but they are few and far between.

I know teachers who pick kids up in the morning, buy them breakfast, drive them to school and set up incentives without the school even knowing just because they care about the kids. Isn't it time that we put the pressure on families to do the same, stop lowering the bar and for God sake, get rid of Bridge Projects!!!

Only because in years past the schools had better sense than to force so many into an academic track.

Of course in those days there were other avenues to employment that, if not meaningful, were at least lucrative enough to support a family on.

Ever heard the term "juking the stats"? Between that an the pressure on teachers to pass students, you will find your reasons for the increase.

But lets, for a minute, pretend that the graduation rates really have increased. Does that mean that teachers aren't really as bad as the so-called reformers claim? They seem to want it both ways, and no one seems to question it.

Wait, didn't Arne Duncan bemoan the rising dropout rate a few months ago? So graduation AND dropout are on the rise? I wonder if we're playing some numbers games here...