Tagged: dropout crisis

In the latest Innovation Trail report for New York NOW, we're taking a look at STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education in the Capital Region. High-tech multinational companies have moved into the area and they're hiring. Meanwhile some local school districts are struggling with graduation rates around 50 percent.

New York State has similar rates of student disengagement as the rest of the nation.

With dropout rates at almost 30 per cent in New York, the Alliance for Excellent Education warns that this crisis is damaging to the economy as well as the future of individuals.

The Buffalo Public Schools (BPS) received good news last year: its four-year graduation rate rose by seven percent. Still, nearly half the district’s high school students failed to earn a diploma. The struggling urban school system continues to look for dramatic fixes. This year, the district is starting in kindergarten.