As the federal government “invests” trillions of our children’s taxes (that is after all what federal debt is) in order to improve the economy, I want you to consider the results of the “investment” of billions of dollars during the Richardson Administration in education:
Fewer than six in 10 students graduated from New Mexico’s high schools in 2006, giving the state a rank of 48th in the nation for high-school graduation rates, according to a report released Tuesday.
Education Week’s “Diplomas Count” report found New Mexico’s graduation rate was 56 percent for the class of 2006. The study also showed an average of 73 students dropped out each school day.
The state ranked ahead of Georgia (55.9 percent), the District of Columbia (48.8 percent) and Nevada (47.3 percent). The national graduation rate was 69.2 percent.
The state Public Education Department said the report showed a slight improvement over the class of 2005, when New Mexico ranked 50th nationwide at 54.1 percent.
The state Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia said in a release that the progress was “good” but pointed out that the low rate meant “far too many of our children take too long or fail to graduate from high school.”
Wow, talk about trying to put on a positive spin. The Secretary of Education called moving from the worst in the nation to third worse in the nation “good” progress?
I have two kids in public school in New Mexico. If they brought home a test score of 54.1% on one test and then 56% on their next test, I don’t think we would be using the word “good” anywhere in the discussion.