Graduation rates in the Edmonds School District are at their highest levels ever, our friends at Lynnwood Today report.
Six years ago, about 67.5 percent of students graduated high school. Now it’s up to 83.6 percent for on-time graduation, and 93.3 percent for students who took more than four years.
District officials credit a more targeted approach to reach at-risk students, Lynnwood Today said.
Perhaps this topic requires more than just a passing glance.
Why do students drop out of school? Could it be the prospect of earning money in an economy with an abundance of employment opportunities?
What has happened in the last six years? Could it be that the economy has been shedding jobs at an alarming rate and qualified professionals are leaving their careers and filling vacancies at Jamba Juice?
Didn’t the District just cut their “Student Outreach and Support Department” in 2008?
It looks like this turbulent economy has created new opportunities for our district to take credit for conditions entirely outside of their influence. Perhaps they should get raises for making it rain in January.
I’d also like to see what kind of standards are required for graduation. Most students graduating from high school can’t put a sentence together. I can’t tell you how many job applications I get that are never reviewed because of poor English. Furthermore, most high school graduates can no longer do basic algebra. And, most high school graduates cannot tell you how their government works. It is truly a sorry state of affairs.
I am starting to wonder if the “education” our public schools provide has been deemed acceptable by parents – even when it is woefully inadequate.
As a childless member of the community (70% of our community does not have children in public school), I can only evaluate the results of our public schools and not the direct benefit to parents in keeping their children busy during the day. Our schools should have more to do with the outcome and less to do with just passing time.
Our public schools should be more than just pre-adult daycare.