It won’t be easy upgrading Virginia’s educational system if we don’t know what needs upgrading. Everyone agrees, for instance, that the high school drop-out rate is too high. But ask them, “how high,” and they can’t give you a meaningful answer.
The reason is that public school systems use different formulas to calculate the number. Comparing graduation rates is like comparing apples and oranges, explains Cathy Grimes with the Daily Press, reporting on a meeting of the state board of education.
Virginia requires local school districts to report their graduation rates to the state, but districts need not use the same formula to figure out who earned a diploma and who did not. “We just take what they give us,” said Julie Grimes, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.
Critics have argued that the lack of a uniform system means districts can inflate their graduation rates, making their high schools look better. Or they can mask or miscount dropouts and transfer students.
It would be really nice if the educational establishment could get the basic facts straightened out before barraging the taxpayers with requests for more money.
Update: Apparently, this discussion results from HB19, sponsored by Del. William H. Fralin Jr., R-Roanoke, and passed by the General Assembly this spring, that “directs the Board of Education to collect, analyze, and report high school graduation and drop out data using a formula prescribed by the Board.”