Educators in California must be doing something right because this is the first time California’s high school graduation rate is above 80%… that’s 12.1% higher than last year!  The academic gap between racial groups is decreasing as more Latino and African American students are now finishing high school.

However, this was quite a surprise.   The state experienced budget cuts in the education department which drastically affected Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the country’s second largest school system.  Despite the lack of funds for schools, John Deasy, LAUSD Superintendent, has been pushing for a higher graduation rate and is very pleased with the outcome.  He gives credit to the effort and work of teachers and staff, as well as the distribution of funds towards schools that are struggling.

Although the efforts have been showing progress so far, the state is proceeding with a new funding system that offers more financial support for low-income families and students learning English.  The dropout rate for non-fluent English speaking students has already decreased 1.5% from 2012 to 2013.

With a lack of funding in schools, there are many other resources out there for students to get help.  Arne Duncan, the U.S.  Secretary of Education, stated “this is a matter of equity and that we have to change the opportunity equation.”  We, at Educator.com, believe this to be true and made it our mission to help provide an equal learning opportunity for every student.

Congratulations class of 2014! =D

*reblogged from https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-grads-dropouts-20140429,0,687653,full.story#axzz30Oaw9oVb