We're out of the cellar

Baltimore, which long had the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation, has clawed its way up to only fourth worst in the nation (1/3 of students in the city public school system graduate from high school). But we still have the biggest gap between urban districts and suburban districts (Baltimore County is in the 80s for getting their students to graduate). It's not in the article, but on the radio they said that the three cities doing worse that Baltimore are Detroit, Indianapolis, and Cleveland (Detroit being the worst).

But possibly even worse than the fact that kids don't graduate, is that the ones who do aren't really prepared to go on to anything else. I was helping my dad's file clerk get ready to take the placement test for Anne Arundel Community College (AA is the county south of Baltimore where Annapolis is), and she was struggling with the practice questions that were basic reading comprehension (what's the main idea of this 5 sentence paragraph) and basic algebra (they give you f(x) and then ask the value of say f(3)). And the only reason she's going at all is because my parents are telling her she should have some education after high school. Because neither her parents nor her school care what she does now or what she does once she graduates. The school will just wash their hands of her once she leaves because her parents are doing the same thing, so they can.