The White House says high school graduation rates have reached an all-time high in the country. But Arizona Public Radio’s Aaron Granillo reports, Arizona’s high schoolers lag behind.
The state’s high school graduation rate stands at 77 percent as of last year, six points below the national average. Arizona is also just one of five states that hasn’t seen an increase in rates since 2011. President Obama announced the numbers yesterday, and said the country still needs to invest more in education.
“We’ve still got too many high schools where a third of their students do not earn their diplomas on time," said President Obama. "For too many students in America, zip codes still determine how fear they’ll go. And that’s not acceptable.”
The president said all minority groups saw a spike in their graduation rates. That includes Native Americans in Arizona, where 66 percent earned a high school diploma last year, up four points from 2011.
