Florida high-school graduation rate among nation's worst

The state's graduation rate was 71 percent last year, tied with Louisiana's, and better than only five other states, according to data from 47 states released by the U.S. Department of Education last week.

Florida's high-school graduation rate has climbed steadily in the past decade and this year made a sizable jump. But students still graduate on time far less often than those in other states, new federal data show.

For 2012, however, Florida's overall graduation rate hit 74.5 percent, the biggest increase since 2003, the state announced Friday. There is not yet any comparable national data for this year.

State leaders touted this year's increase as a sign that Florida's school-improvement efforts are, as Gov. Rick Scott said, "moving in the right direction." But others said the state's low national standing highlighted still-needed work and raised doubts about the success of Florida's touted education reforms.

Florida's graduation rate has climbed 18 percentage points since 2003, when it was 56.5 percent, as calculated under a new, rigorous formula the federal government required states to use this year, officials said.

"I think we need to focus on what Florida is doing and that we're moving forward," said Jane Fletcher, director of accountability at the state Education Department.

She cautioned that state-to-state comparisons are tricky because graduation requirements — including must-pass courses and state tests — vary widely across the country.

"It's hard to ignore the increase. You have to give credit where credit is due," said Braulio Colon, executive director for the Florida College Access Network.

He added, however, that "we're not where we need to be."

Based on national data, Florida posted a better graduation rate than only Alaska, Georgia, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon. It trailed most of its Southern neighbors, including Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, even as they lagged much of the nation.

Iowa had the best graduation rate in the nation last year, at 88 percent. The data did not include rates for Idaho, Kentucky or Puerto Rico but did for 47 states, Washington, D.C., and the Bureau of Indian Education.

Florida's low rate is proof that its "extreme reforms" in public education are not working, said Kathleen Oropeza, a founding member of Fund Education Now, an Orlando group critical of Florida's test-based school-accountability system.

"Look at the facts on the ground," she said. "What happens at the end of the day, at the end of the process?" she said. "It's still not showing that we're supporting our children properly or that they're being successful."