ONE LOCAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR CHALLENGES GRADUATION RATE RANKING
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
Tuesday night we told you about a new education study that puts Alabama near the bottom of the list when it comes to the number of students who actually graduate.
One local administrator is taking issue with that study...he says it doesn`t exactly paint an accurate picture.
The results from a New York study that ranked Alabama 47th in the nation when it comes to graduating high school senior from 1991 to 2002...the number of students receiving their diploma has dropped from 69 percent to 58 percent, but Houston County Superintendent Tim Pitchford says there`s a reason for this decline. He says Alabama`s standards are high, and that other states outrank Alabama because their standards are much lower, and he says another factor limits the state`s potential.
Pitchford also talked about low funding, and the lowering of standards to increase graduation rates. He said he would never want to lower standards.
On a local note, Pitchford says Houston County`s dropout rate, which is around 10 percent is less than the state average which sits at 14 percent.
