The sad reality, Marc, is that these numbers look about where they were when I was teaching 15 years ago. The district I was in beamed with pride when they got their 33% down to 26% over a five year period. What no one knew was that they only counted those kids who dropped out after completing ninth grade. The junior high population had a 24% dropout rate and the rough estimate was that there was plus/minus 8% who just fell through the cracks in their official counting. I'm no math whiz, but I think these numbers are always manipulated to to prevent total systemic shock.

I am in a state of "total systemic shock." I really feel that nothing, I mean nothing, matters to us as a nation as much as changing these graduation rates.