Louisiana graduation rate falls

Posted: Oct 19, 2009 7:46 AM by sleonard

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A new report says Louisiana suffered the biggest drop in its public high school graduation rate of any state in the Southern region over a five-year period.
The study says 13 of 16 Southern states reviewed showed graduation gains between 2002 and 2006, a big reversal from earlier this decade when the numbers were slipping.
The Southern Regional Education Board in Atlanta says Louisiana's figure dropped from 64 percent in 2002 to 60 percent in 2006.
The national figure for 2006 was 73 percent, according to the study. The regional figure was 72 percent.
State education officials disputed the Louisiana figures, mostly because of what they called tabulation flaws caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

---Information from:The Advocate,http://www.2theadvocate.com
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Topics: high school, graduation, rate, louisiana, katrina, hurricane, drop, Southern Regional, Education, Board, Atlanta