Updated 03/10/2010 06:04 AM
Graduation rates released
Figures show 72 percent of New York's students who started ninth grade in 2005 graduated in four years, compared with 66 percent of those who started in 2001. In Syracuse, however, the rate was much less at 45 percent. Our Kat De Maria breaks down the numbers and shares reaction from the city's superintendent.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse has the worst graduation rates in Onondaga County. Forty-five percent of students who started ninth grade in 2005 graduated in four years, down from 50 percent who started in 2001. Superintendent Dan Lowengard says unfortunately, that's no surprise.
"Poverty is still defining whether kids graduate or not. And it's atrocious," Lowengard said.
Lowengard says he has been and is continuing to lobby New York State to give more money to Syracuse and other urban districts. Meanwhile, he says he and school leaders have been implementing a number of interventions.
"We certainly are responsible. But this is the group of kids who haven't had the benefit of all the things we've put in place," Lowengard said.
Lowengard highlights Say Yes to Education, now it its second year, smaller learning communities and talent development, among other things. And he says staff is focusing on helping students graduate, no matter how long it takes.
Graduation rates improved to 56 percent for students who stayed on for five years and 57 percent for those who completed high school in six years. Lowengard says the ones he can't help are the 450 students a year who drop out.
"Those students have no potential in this economy or in this community to be successful. We want them all to come back to school. We'll get them in through credit recovery. We'll help them to get a GED so they can move on," Lowengard said.
Lowengard says if students set their sights beyond high school, then graduation becomes a means to an end. And he says he believes more Syracuse students would cross the stage with their diploma.
Graduation rates in Syracuse were the lowest at Fowler High School, which is undergoing a redesign next year. The best rates in Onondaga County were at Fayetteville-Manlius and Skaneateles, at 93 percent.