LAUSD Graduation Surges
June 13, 2017
by Gary Toebben
As students and families celebrate recent high school commencements, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce congratulates all of our high school graduates. We also applaud the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) for improving its high school graduation rate by an unprecedented five percentage points in one year, while at the same time stepping up completion requirements and university eligibility.
We are especially encouraged by the gains for Black and Latino students, who showed a notable increase in graduation rates -- and declines in dropout rates for the school year that ended in 2016 (See detail from the most recent California Department of Education data at http://www.lacompact.org/lausd_grad_rates). Significant disparities still exist, but LAUSD's major focus on equity is starting to narrow the gap for students of color, who make up the vast majority of the district -- and our workforce for the future.
LAUSD made this progress while adopting more rigorous standards to better prepare students for college. Last year was the first year graduates had to complete all courses required for admission to California's public universities. LAUSD graduates maintained their three-year trend of outperforming the state and county in CSU/UC eligibility (55 percent of LAUSD graduates, compared to 50 percent in L.A. County and 45 percent statewide http://www.lacompact.org/lausd_grad_rates).
The L.A. Area Chamber commends LAUSD's leadership, teachers, students and families for their commitment to improving academic success. The district has a proactive strategy to increase student achievement through family engagement, more effective learning environments, and increased emphasis on college and career readiness. The Chamber and our business, government, education and civic partners will continue our collective commitment to the goal of 100 percent graduation rates through the L.A. Compact.
This recent report showing improvements in LAUSD graduation rates and college preparedness is cause for optimism. Let's celebrate and then get back to work.
And that's The Business Perspective.
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