High school graduation rates are up, The News & Observer

August 2012

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It is not grasping for good news to celebrate a dramatic increase in North Carolina’s high school graduation rate over the last six years. Assuming comparisons of the 68.3 percent rate of 2006 and the 80.2 rate this year are apples to apples, the boost is a sign of genuine progress.

And the news comes as the state has closed out its ABC’s of Public Education testing program, which began under former Gov. Jim Hunt, perhaps the strongest advocate for public elementary and secondary education in the history of North Carolina. (Though many governors have indeed made the public schools a priority.)

Hereafter the state will develop new tests for new curricula in math and English.

In 2006, North Carolina was below the national average in graduation rates, a fact that was not only an embarrassment but a frankly scary commentary on just how well public school students were learning. Now the state can say that based on 2009 figures, the latest available, it is above the national average.

North Carolina’s also was highly ranked among states trying to reduce the high school dropout rate.

June Atkinson, state superintendent of public instruction, properly credited more investment in schools for at least a measure of the reason for the increase. The state, for example, boosted its investment in high schools where academic performance was lagging and in entire school districts that were under-performing and typically, under-funded as well.

But Atkinson issued an important cautionary note, and it’s one that must not be ignored. She said that the education cuts put in by the Republican leadership in the General Assembly will only make the jobs of principals and teachers harder. And yes, it will be more difficult to maintain the gains and in fact avoid a backsliding from the progress that’s been made.

GOP leaders offer the usual rhetoric, applauding the progress but defending their position by saying money isn’t the only factor in demonstrating improved performance.

That’s true, but North Carolina has never been a spendthrift when it comes to paying teachers.

Hunt, who led the charge to raise teachers’ salaries (a charge in which Republican leaders appear to have little interest), said of those in this noble profession: “Teachers deserve to be paid well. The best ones we can get and keep have choices.” Exactly. Teachers are not signing up for a religious order, though many are so dedicated to their mission that they tolerate low wages. But there comes a point when they have to support themselves and their families and they understandably want to “get ahead” in life, at least a little.

It is not unrealistic to expect that state lawmakers will fund the public schools not at a bare minimum but with enough money to really improve the learning opportunities for students. Budget cuts, and the prospect that in the future some legislators will push for a form of “vouchers” given to people to supplement private school educations for their children, are things that will drain coffers and make the public mission more difficult.

The challenges for teachers are great, to educate all children regardless of background in order that they might have opportunities for higher education and to elevate their horizons. What a grand, a glorious, calling.

But without adequate support, these great moments of progress such as the graduation rate increase will be short-lived, and countered by slower progress or stalemate thanks to a lack of money and the inability to hold on to the best teachers. So this development is great. But it must be followed up with an even stronger effort.