graduation rates of High Schools

**AntiSnob** · 12-19-2009, 04:45 PM

did you ever consider dropping out when you were in high school? I never did. At my high school we started with about 300 and graduated about 250. That's roughly an 80-85% rate which is pretty good. John Hopkins says that the DM Public School District has a 65% graduation rate. On the surface that seems bad but compared to other school districts it is not. Houston, Fort Worth, Memphis, Denver, Dallas, Miami, L.A., Cleveland, New York, Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Detroit all have sub 50% graduation rates.

**CycloneDaddy** · 12-19-2009, 04:47 PM

If I would have dropped out of school my dad would have kicked my arse every way to Sunday.

**CyinCo** · 12-19-2009, 04:55 PM

I recall in HS that two people dropped out of our class (64) and everyone was just blown away. People just didn't do it.

50% graduation rate is just wrong. While the kids hold some blame, parenting has really gone in the crapper as well.

**Clonehomer** · 12-19-2009, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by CycloneDaddy

If I would have dropped out of school my dad would have kicked my arse every way to Sunday.

Maybe that's part of the problem. There are a lot of kids growing up these days without that in their life. How as a parent could you let your kid drop out of school?

**3TrueFans** · 12-19-2009, 05:08 PM

Never thought about it, but dropping out of high school or college for that matter was not an option.

**Tre4ISU** · 12-19-2009, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by 3TrueFans

Never thought about it, but dropping out of high school or college for that matter was not an option.

I don't understand the incentive to drop out of high school. Is it to make few thousand more dollars in that time? It's pretty ****-poor thinking if you ask me. I would say that is the same with college unless there is a specific opportunity for you with a family business or something like that. I probably could have skipped college but then if something goes wrong I will have nothing to fall back on. I ended up finding a job out of college but I would guess I will be home within a few years.

This is parenting. I just don't understand how you cannot teach your kids they are better off in school. I suppose there are some parents who don't believe that though huh.

**CyForPresident** · 12-19-2009, 05:22 PM

I often think about the opportunity cost of college versus if I was working straight out of high school. It was never a serious option though, just interesting food for thought.

There is no excuse for dropping out of high school. Its easy as ****.

**Cyclonepride** · 12-19-2009, 05:48 PM

65% is horrendous, and while I'm not going to put all the blame on parenting, dads out there should be ashamed. By that, I mean the ones who aren't men, but little boys who can't hold themselves responsible for anything, and who father a child and then disappear. Those guys are the biggest losers in the world.

**LindenCy** · 12-19-2009, 05:59 PM

The grad rates are horrible. 65% is awful, but as you stated, it is still better than most major cities. I have no idea how 50% or more drop out.

**CyGal** · 12-19-2009, 06:43 PM

I know we had few people drop out in my high school. More overwhelming to us was that 10-12 people graduated at least one semester early, just go get away from the place. Being one of them, I can completely understand the need to get away from the school and the your classmates, but dropping out wasn't really an option.

A guy I personally knew that dropped out was living in a tent at a camp ground he worked at within a year of leaving school. Pathetic.

**acgclone** · 12-19-2009, 06:49 PM

65% is bad and you can't even talk about Des Moines in the same sentence as Miami, Detroit, Memphis, Baltimore, etc.

**sodakjoe** · 12-19-2009, 07:57 PM

I know kids who dropped out to enter apprenticeship programs. We had kids at my high school who just weren't that smart, but had great aptitude when it came to things like cars. I know of at least two kids who dropped out at 16 and started working as mechanics. I think they're both still doing that today.

**iowajazz** · 12-19-2009, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by yaman3

I don't understand the incentive to drop out of high school. Is it to make few thousand more dollars in that time? It's pretty ****-poor thinking if you ask me. I would say that is the same with college unless there is a specific opportunity for you with a family business or something like that. I probably could have skipped college but then if something goes wrong I will have nothing to fall back on. I ended up finding a job out of college but I would guess I will be home within a few years.

This is parenting. I just don't understand how you cannot teach your kids they are better off in school. I suppose there are some parents who don't believe that though huh.

Agreed. There is a lot of bad parenting going on.

**everyyard** · 12-19-2009, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by AntiSnob

did you ever consider dropping out when you were in high school? I never did. At my high school we started with about 300 and graduated about 250. That's roughly an 80-85% rate which is pretty good. John Hopkins says that the DM Public School District has a 65% graduation rate. On the surface that seems bad but compared to other school districts it is not. Houston, Fort Worth, Memphis, Denver, Dallas, Miami, L.A., Cleveland, New York, Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Detroit all have sub 50% graduation rates.

Did the average kid in your school live in poverty with one single parent who was never home leading to unsupervised activities including drugs and gangs and early pregnancies as well as not have any role model to show them what benefit you could get by getting a good education?

**AntiSnob** · 12-19-2009, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by everyyard

Did the average kid in your school live in poverty with one single parent who was never home leading to unsupervised activities including drugs and gangs and early pregnancies as well as not have any role model to show them what benefit you could get by getting a good education?

I went to Dowling in the mid-1990s. While we were by no means a ghetto school, easily half of the kids in my class were from
DM Proper.