Dead Last: RCSD Graduation Rates Remain Lowest in State

By Lynnola Christman

Graduation rates in the Rochester City School District (RCSD) are below standards. Rates increased by 10 points since 2013 when it was 43%. This is a problem because there are so many kids in the district that just give up on themselves instead of trying. That’s hard when the education of the students aren’t valued at home, or when kids are bored, frustrated, pregnant, work to provide for their families, or missed too many days according to npr.org and educationseattlepi.com. This affects students because when the students drop out, they are more likely to live periodically unemployed, on government assistance, or be in and out of prison then students who have a high school diploma according to all4ed.org.
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26 schools in RCSD have closed since 2002. 18 have reopened according to Democrat and Chronicle. RCSD schools don’t even have engraved names on their buildings but instead banners where they can be easily removed in case schools get shut down. East was going to be one of these schools before the University of Rochester got involved. The reason for shutting down these schools is to have better performance, but yet graduation rates are still the worst in the state. This is a problem that we should look more into because every student in the RCSD should have a fair chance at success as anyone else in other districts.