Not Good Enough.

Nationwide, nearly 30% of U.S. students fail to graduate high school.
National Center for Education Statistics

Nationwide, nearly 30% of U.S. students fail to graduate high school.
National Center for Education Statistics

“In October 2007, approximately 3.3 million 16- through 24-
year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not
earned a high school diploma or alternative credential” -
National Center for Education Statistics
Enough young people to fill the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium.
forty-one times

Figures
Scary, huh?
Figure 6.—Averaged freshman graduation rates of public high school students, by state: School year 2005–06
National Center for Education Statistics
— Not available.
‡ Reporting standards not met. (Too few cases for a reliable estimate.)
NOTE: The averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR) is an estimate of the percentage of an entering freshman class graduating
in 4 years. For 2005–06, it equals the total number of diploma recipients in 2005–06 divided by the average membership
of the 8th-grade class in 2001–02, the 9th-grade class in 2002–03, and the 10th-grade class in 2003–04. See table 12 in this report
for more information about these state rates.
SOURCE: Stillwell, R., and Hoffman, L. (2009). Public School Graduates and Dropouts From the Common Core of Data:
School Year 2005–06 (NCES 2008-353rev), table 1.

But don’t worry.
Don’t change a thing.
Your kids don’t live in cities, so you’ll be fine.

In the 50 largest US cities, on
average, half of students (49.2%)
fail to graduate high school.
If you’re in a large urban school
district, the odds of your
graduation are a coin toss.

In 17 U.S. cities, the high school graduation rate is significantly less
than 50%
In Detroit, 75% of children fail to complete high school.

April 23, 2009: 5000
students and families apply
for admission to Harlem
Success Academy Charter
Schools.
There are 475 seats.
NY Daily News, April 23rd 2009

Where do
we start?

Everywhere.

Harvard Graduate School of Education
Launching first new degree since 1935:
Doctor of Education Leadership

Harvard Graduate School of Education
Launching first new degree since 1935:
Doctor of Education Leadership
This is not a
program for
professionals who
want to be leaders
in the current U.S.
education system -
but the next one.
“...to include students preparing to lead a broad range of
organizations including nonprofit organizations, mission-
based for-profit organizations, and government agencies.”

“Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth, is in
post-production on a new untitled Participant documentary
for release next year about the crisis in public education in
the United States.
With this film, we will work to activate audiences to create a
movement that will fix our broken education system.”
takepart.com/education

“It’s time to stop admiring the problem.”
In 2010, let’s work for change.