Colorado’s overall high school graduation rate is higher than the national average, according to a new study released this week. It was a blip of good news for an otherwise often-beleaguered system.
Unfortunately, the good news disappears like a high school dropout when the numbers from Aurora and Denver are revealed.
The state’s graduation rate was 74.6 percent during the 2003-04 school year, according to “Diplomas Count 2007: Ready for What?,” a report produced by the Maryland- based Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. The national graduation rate was 69.9 percent.
However, in Denver the graduation rate was 46.3 percent, while in Aurora it was 47.9 percent.
Tinkering around the edges of the education system won’t change those numbers. Only a clear vision of reform and bold changes can begin to revitalize city schools.
Educators told The Post last week that the odds of a student staying in school hinge upon multiple factors, such as the financial stability of their families and whether they feel successful academically. Feeling a connection to their school also is an important factor, Deirdre Pilch, principal of Centaurus High School, told The Post.
Those are just a few of the reasons we were pleased to see plans for the revamped Manual High School, which was shut down by Denver Public Schools officials in 2006.
Beginning this fall, a new class of freshmen will enroll in a transformed school, where the mission is centered on character, behavior and student achievement. Kids will begin their days encircled in a morning meeting talking about successes and failures and what they can do to make their school work. They will have immediate interaction with an adult, one of the keys to a successful school.
The school days will be longer for those who need it, and teachers will be paid extra for staying late to tutor those who struggle. Students may even have a dress code.
And the teachers and principal have chosen the curriculum.
The mold blends the best of private and charter schools with the things public schools do best. It will be high school like you’ve rarely seen it.
Overall, Colorado shouldn’t boast much about besting the national average for graduation rates. Thousands of kids in the suburbs and rural areas are still walking away from their education and, for most, their futures.
The system, as we’ve said before, is old and it’s broken. Perhaps someday the new Manual will serve as a prototype for how high school can be done differently, in ways that enrich students and ultimately benefit us all.
