States Reporting Inflated Graduation Rates

Could Enron get away with this?

Most states are reporting lofty high school graduation rates that far exceed reality and mislead the public about how schools are performing, a private analysis found.


The majority of states — 36 of them — say 80 percent to 97 percent of their high school students graduate on time, according to state figures provided to the Education Department.

Those numbers show "rampant dishonesty," said Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, an advocacy organization for poor and minority students. The Trust reviewed the 2002-03 graduation rates that states had to provide this year

When the numbers are closer to 70%,does it make you want to pay higher taxes?AP