Interesting articles this week on graduation rates nationwide. This bit on NYC schools:

Lori Mei, the head of testing for New York City's schools, defended the city's figures, saying New York tracked individual students and so did not rely on estimates, but produced actual graduation figures. In 2003, the city reported a 54.3 percent graduation rate.

But she also said that New York counted students who received high school equivalency diplomas as graduates. Excluding them would have produced a graduation rate of about 50 percent, she said. She said that in New York, virtually all the students who drop out never get past 9th or 10th grade, largely because of poor preparation in the lower grades.

Or something. It doesn't surprise me that the graduation rate is that low. I was at an "okay" school in Queens, and the grad rate was right around the city average. Attendance was about 77% for freshmen, 71% for sophomores. On any given day I only had about <25 students per class, even though I had 33-35 on my roster.

Just found out I won't be able to attend a job fair b/c too many people in my discipline are signed up. Fuck them. I wrote a nasty letter back, which probably made me look insane. Course, I'm not sure my credentials make me a better teacher for a NYC school, since the one thing I think you really need is crackerjack classroom management; my actual skills and knowledge of content really don't matter, past a certain threshold.