Report Says Philadelphia's Dropout Rate Is Down, Graduation Rate Is Up
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia's high school graduation rate has shown gains, but it falls well short of Mayor Michael Nutter's goal. That's the finding of a report released Wednesday.
The percentage of Philadelphia students who graduated high school on time has risen from 52 to 64 percent over the last eight years, according to the latest report from Project U-Turn. Mayor Nutter's goal is 80 percent.
"Five minutes of celebration about the gains that we've made but we have a lot more work to do," said Mayor Nutter.
Part of that work is helping groups who need it most, says Project U-Turn President Chekemma Fulmore-Townsend.
"We need to think about targeted programs that would address the specific needs of individual populations like Hispanic males, African-American males and parenting girls," said Fulmore-Townsend.
Mayor Nutter says the report illustrates the need for increased school funding.
