Posted on November 29, 2012

DC Takes Top Honors — for Worst Graduation Rate in U.S.

Pete Winn, CNS News, November 28, 2012

Washington, D.C., had the worst high school graduation rate in the country in 2011, according to state-by-state statistics released Monday by the U.S. Department of Education.

Only 59 percent of high school students who started as freshmen in the 2006-2007 school year graduated four years later from District of Columbia schools, according to the data, which details state four-year high school graduation rates in the 2010-11 school year.

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Second from the bottom is Nevada, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), with a 62 percent graduation rate.

At the top of the list, meanwhile, Iowa stood alone, with an 88 percent graduation rate.

Wisconsin, the home state of GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, tied for second-best with Vermont, posting a graduation rate of 87 percent.

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Other selected state rates:

Top Tier

Iowa — 88 percent

Vermont — 87 percent

Wisconsin — 87 percent

North Dakota — 86 percent

New Hampshire — 86 percent

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Bottom Tier:

Alabama — 72 percent

Louisiana — 71 percent

Oregon — 68 percent

Georgia — 67 percent

New Mexico — 63 percent

Nevada — 62 percent

DC — 59 percent

The 2010-11 graduation rates are preliminary, state-reported data, according to the federal government and the Education Department says it will release final rates in the coming months. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this is the first year for which all states used a common measure.