Declining Graduation Rates Nationally

“The national graduation rate stands at 68.8 percent for the class of 2007, the most recent year for which data are available…These findings mark the second consecutive year of declines in the national graduation rate, following a decade of mostly solid improvement…Nationally, 11,000 fewer students earned diplomas in the class of 2007 compared with the previous year…The number is troubling, as those who fail to finish high school face far greater hardships on average than their graduating peers; their decisions not to finish school also hold implications for local labor markets, the national economy, and society at large.”

Source: http://www.edweek.org/ew/
articles/2010/06/10/34swanson.h29.html