Here's a ticking time bomb for the Legislature to grapple with, and a massive social issue that won't be helped by more tests and simple-minded tax cuts.
One out of three Texas students don't graduate, and more students drop out than finish high school in the state's largest cities, according to education experts.Posted by Alan at January 28, 2007 12:42 PMStatewide, more than 2.5 million students have dropped out of Texas high schools in the last 20 years, and each graduating class loses about 120,000 students from freshman year to senior year, according to the San Antonio-based Intercultural Development Research Association.
The research group says more than half of students in Texas' largest cities drop out. The dropout rate among blacks, Hispanics and low-income students is about 60 percent, according to the Center for Education at Rice University.
The statewide dropout rate is about 33 percent — or 20 points higher than what the Texas Education Agency reports.