For Immediate Release

UFT President Randi Weingarten on Graduation Rates April 25, 2007

Apr 25, 2007 12:38 PM

“We applaud our students, their parents and our teachers for achieving this increase in the city graduation rates, and we are glad the city and the state have agreed upon a uniform way to accurately measure how our schools perform compared to the rest of the state. Using that method, it is important to note that last year’s true graduation rate in the city was 47% -- not 43% as the state said nor 58% as the city claimed.

 

“But no matter how you calculate the rates, we still have a long way to go. We have seen that small schools, with their lower class sizes, graduate higher percentages of students, showing that smaller class size is a key component of high school success. Imagine how high the graduation rate could be if all city high school students had the benefit of smaller classes! We also know that graduation rates would increase if we had more guidance counselors, more career and technical education programs and focused dropout prevention strategies.”