Graduation rates inch up, but many kids still not making grades

The city’s high-school graduation rate rose to 61.3 percent last year, but some schools couldn’t even reach 40 percent.

Brooklyn’s Multicultural HS and the International Community HS in The Bronx graduated less than one-third of their seniors in 2013, according to state education data released Monday.

Both schools serve large numbers of immigrants who struggle with proficiency, according to Inside Schools, a monitor sponsored by the New School.

An official with International Community HS said the graduating class was “not typical,” as the school serves “students who have been in the country for four years or less.”

The school graduated just 31 percent of its seniors.

Officials said that for students who are new to English, it is not reasonable to “prepare for college” in four years.

“At Multicultural High School, the six-year grad rate is 69.2 percent, and at International Community High School, it is 75 percent,” said a spokeswoman.

Other schools that graduated fewer than two out of five seniors include The Bronx’s Dreamyard Prep HS, Manhattan’s Marta Valle HS, Park Slope Collegiate in Brooklyn and August Martin HS in Queens.

In contrast, the city’s top schools — including Bronx Science and Staten Island Tech — were at or close to 100 percent graduation rates.

Parent advocates say high schools with poor graduation rates are dealing with students who have the most needs.

It “doesn’t mean they’re anywhere close to bad schools. It means they’re trying to deal with more needy kids,” said parent activist Noah Gotbaum.

“The city doesn’t provide the services that those kids need, so of course, the graduation rates fall and those schools struggle.”

Graduation rates citywide moved up from 60.4 percent in 2012 to 61.3 percent last year, but remained well below the state average of 74.9 percent.

Career- and college-readiness rates, while disturbingly low, also improved, from 22.2 to 24.9, percent over the same period.

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said both figures were “moving in the right direction,” and that the city’s efforts to improve middle-school education will “pay dividends” in the future.

But Inside Schools managing editor, Pamela Wheaton, called the improvements “minuscule.”

“It really shows little progress,” she said. “It’s hard to say there’s any good news here.”

Additional reporting by Leonard Greene

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