New York High School Graduation Rate Continues To Climb

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- There's some promising news coming from the Department of Education.

A greater percentage of students in New York in 2010 graduated high school after four years compared to the previous year and the still-wide gap between white students and minorities narrowed slightly, according to new data released.

Statewide, 73.4 percent of students who started ninth grade in 2006 graduated in four years, up from 71.8 percent the year before. Of those students who started high school in 2001, 65.8 percent graduated in four years.

The report showed graduation rates for the state's Big 5 city school districts -- New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers -- increased overall during the past six years. Only Buffalo's rate fell last year, primarily because the size of the class changed.

The rates in the Big 5 districts compared with the 2009 rate, are:

Buffalo: 47.4 percent, down from 53.1 percent.

New York City: 61 percent, up from 59 percent.

Rochester: 46.1 percent, up from 42.1 percent.

Syracuse: 45.9, up from 45.2 percent.

Yonkers: 63.2, up from 58.1 percent.

The overall graduation rate for black students rose from 55.7 percent to 57.7 percent from 2009-10 while the rate for Hispanic students rose from 54.8 percent to 57.3 percent.

The gap between white students and minorities continues to shrink. The difference in graduation rates for black and white students declined from 30 percentage points for the Class of 2005 to 26 points for the Class of 2010. For Hispanic students, the gap narrowed from a 33 percentage point difference to a 27 point difference over the same perioed.

Statewide, a greater percentage of black and Hispanic students rely on the local diploma to graduate -- compared to a Regents diploma or Regents diploma with Advanced Designation.

The graduation rates, required as part of the school report cards, were released on the state Education Department website at www.nysed.gov .

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