WASHINGTONûA recent report finds that only about half of all students served by the main school systems in the nation’s 50 largest cities graduate from high school.
Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation released by the America’s Promise Alliance and prepared by Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, further reveals that in the metropolitan areas surrounding 35 of the nation’s largest cities, graduation rates in urban schools were significantly lower than those in nearby suburban communities.
According to the report, Chicago ranks 31th of 50 of the nation’s largest cities in terms of high school graduation rates.
The survey shows that 51.5 percent of students in Chicago’s main school system graduate from high school, compared to national average of 70 percent. The report also shows a big gap between metropolitan Chicago’s urban graduation rate (55.7 percent) vs. the suburban rate (84.1 percent). Nationally, just 53 percent of African American children graduated compared to 76 percent of their white counterparts.
The report was released by Alma J. Powell, chair of the America’s Promise Alliance (Alliance), which is kicking off a national campaign to reduce high school dropout rates and prepare children for college, work and life.
The campaign will include a series of ground-breaking, high-level dropout prevention summits to be held in every state and 50 communities over the next two years. General Colin Powell, founding chair of the Alliance, joined his wife in making the announcement – citing the dropout crisis as a threat to our economy and national security.
Nationwide, nearly one in three U.S. high school students drops out before graduating. In total, approximately 1.2 million students drop out each year – about 7,000 every school day, or one every 26 seconds. The lead sponsor for the Dropout Prevention Campaign is the State Farm Insurance Company.
State Farm is joined by AT&T, The Boeing Company, Ford Motor Company Fund, Casey Family Programs, ING Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation. In response to the report, Alma Powell was joined by Alliance Founding Chair General Powell; U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings; Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico); Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina); State Farm Chairman and CEO Edward B. Rust Jr.; National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and others to launch the campaign.
The campaign will bring mayors and governors, business owners, child advocates, school administrators, students and parents together to develop workable solutions and action plans for improving our nation’s alarming graduation rates. Several summits have already been held or are scheduled in Detroit, Tucson, Iowa and Mississippi. An additional 38 cities and states have committed.
“When more than one million students a year drop out of high school, it’s more than a problem, it’s a catastrophe. Our economic and national security are at risk when we fail to educate the leaders and the workforce of the future,” said General Powell.
“It’s time for a national ‘call to arms,’ because we cannot afford to let nearly one-third of our kids fail.” Research shows that the more support youth have, both inside and outside of the classroom, the more likely they are to stay in school.
Specifically, research demonstrates that the more young people experience five essential wrap-around supports, what the Alliance calls the “Five Promises”ûcaring adults, safe places, a healthy start, effective education and opportunities to help othersû the greater their chance for future success.
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