Public Approval in the Face of Poverty | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Public Approval in the Face of Poverty | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Public Approval in the Face of Poverty

By AASA, The School Superintendents Association on August 19, 2013

By Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, AASA: The Superintendents' Association
A new school year is about to start. For the past five years, school systems have suffered the worst economic decline since the Great Depression and, to add insult to injury, the effects of sequestration this year will add to the economic malaise.
Nevertheless, public education in America is the best that it has ever been. How can that be, you say? Media accounts abound as to how our schools are failing with privatization, vouchers, charter schools and choice offered as our only salvation. Not true.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of students attending schools considered “dropout factories” has declined by 41 percent since 2002. The number of dropout factories has declined by 29 percent since 2007. A total of 1.1 million fewer students are attending such schools. Today, the dropout rate, which has been declining steadily since 1972, is the lowest it has ever been. Conversely, high school completion rates have been trending up, and we have the highest high school graduation rate in decades (78.2 percent during 2009-10).
College enrollment is at a high point, and more Hispanic students are pursuing postsecondary education than ever, 31.9 percent in 2010. As a matter of fact, minority college enrollment has increased for all groups. The educational attainment for all 25- to 29-year-olds is up. Ninety