New numbers from the Oregon Department of Education say that only 68% of Oregon high school students will graduate on time.
Something both state and local educators are not pleased about.
“We know this is nowhere where we want to be, and these numbers are disappointing. We really need to keep focused on getting significantly larger numbers of kids to graduate,” said Crystal Green, Senior Program and Accountability Officer for the Oregon Department of Education.
Greene says the only way to improve these numbers is for both the state and local districts to work together.
The Medford School District is ahead of the game, estimating that 79.7% of high school students graduated on time during the 2011-2012 school year.
According to Medford School District Superintendent Phil Long, “We actually have been increasing our graduation rate over the last eight years”
The state eductiondepartment has a plan, known as the ’20-40-40 Goal”, in place.
“The state has set a very ambitious goal for ourselves but it’s a plan we believe is necessary if we are going to prepare all of our kids for success, life, work and higher education.”
They hope by the year 2025, 100% of Oregon high school students will graduate.
20% of them may take up to 5 years while 40% go on to college or some sort of higher education.
The remaining 40% would go onto workforce training.
The success of the ’20-40-40 Goal’ will be monitored when this year’s kindergarten class steps up to receive their high school diploma.
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber says education is a top priority and does support the ’20-40-40 goal.’
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