The U.S. Department of Education released data last week listing state four-year high school graduation rates in 2010-11—the first year for which all states used a common, rigorous measure. Prior to the new methodology, varying methods used by states to report graduation rates made comparisons unreliable.
According to data for 2010-11, Florida had one of the worst graduation rates in the nation for the 2010-11 school year–71 percent. The state was tied with Louisiana and only had five states ranked below it: Alaska and Oregon (68%), Georgia (67%), New Mexico (63%) and Nevada (62%).
For the same year, Escambia County’s 58 percent was worse than any state.
For African-American students, Florida’s 59 percent graduation rate tied Ohio and only surpassed Wyoming (58%), Michigan (57%), Oregon (54%), Minnesota (49%) and Nevada (43%). Escambia County’s graduation rate for its black students was 45 percent, only beat out Nevada.
Escambia County’s graduation rate for white students (65%) was below the graduation rates for all the states. The closest state was Oregon with 70 percent graduation rate.
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In summary, Escambia County has some of the lowest high school graduation rates in a state that is ranked nationally near the bottom for graduation rates.
