Michigan stung by study's dropout list
78 high schools called 'dropout factories' by college report; state officials reject claims.
Detroit News staff and wire reports
Seventy-eight Michigan high schools are being called "dropout factories" because no more than 60 percent of their students who start as freshmen make it to their senior year, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University researchers.
About 1,700 regular or vocational high schools -- or more than 1 in 10 high schools nationwide -- fit that description, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Education enrollment data conducted by Johns Hopkins for the Associated Press.
While some of the missing students transferred, most dropped out, said Bob Balfanz, the researcher at Johns Hopkins University who conducted the study. The data tracked senior classes for three years in a row to make sure local events like plant closures weren't to blame for the low retention rates.
Fourteen Metro Detroit suburban high schools were listed as dropout factories, including Ferndale and Hazel Park. And 21 of Detroit Public Schools' high schools, including the well-regarded Cass Technical High School, made the list. DPS officials could not comment because they had not seen the study, said Bob Berg of Berg Muirhead and Associates Inc., which is handling media inquiries for the district.
However, the school district historically has been losing about 10,000 students a year, some to charter schools. In the past, officials have said that could skew dropout research in studies using U.S. Department of Education enrollment data.
The study is the latest in several attempts to quantify the nation's dropout problem. But many, including this one, are considered suspect because they track incoming and graduating classes by total numbers, not by individual students.
Michigan Once Again Has Highest Unemployment
Michigan came in No. 1 on the unemployment chart for the fourth month in a row, according to numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Michigan's unemployment increased from 7.4 percent in August to 7.5 percent in September. Michigan was followed on the national unemployment rate chart by Mississippi (6.4 percent) and Alaska (6.3 percent). Michigan also had the only over-the-year percent decrease in employment (-1.5 percent).
Idaho had the lowest unemployment rate (2.3 percent) followed by Hawaii (2.6 percent), Utah (2.7 percent), and Montana and Virginia (2.9 percent each).
Overall, 18 states registered unemployment rates that were significantly below the U.S. rate, eight states and the District of Columbia recorded measurably higher rates, and 24 states had rates that were statistically little different from that of the nation.
The national unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in September at 4.7 percent.