City celebrates historic high graduation rates, record low dropout rates

City officials announced on Friday, February 10 that New York City’s four-year high school graduation rate hit a historic high in 2016, while the dropout rate fell to the lowest ever.

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, the graduation rate citywide rose to 72.6 percent, while the dropout rate fell to 8.5 percent.

“Our public schools are unquestionably the strongest they’ve ever been – we’re graduating more students than ever before,” said the mayor, noting also that the city is well on track to reach its goal of an 80 percent on-time graduation rate by the year 2026. “From [day one], we’ve believed in the promise of our public schools as the ladder to success for all New Yorkers, and we are raising the bar at every school in every zip code.”

That goal, a part of the mayor’s Equity and Excellence for All campaign, also sets the bar for two-thirds of citywide high school graduates to be college ready.

“Our record-high graduation and the record-low dropout rates are a testament to the hard work of our students, their families and our educators,” said Fariña. “Our focus has always been on the work going on in every classroom, and that’s where it’s going to stay. While this is a day to celebrate progress, we’re working harder than ever to improve instruction and provide equity and excellence for all students.”

In Brooklyn, the graduation rate rose from 70.8 percent to 72.2 percent in 2016. The dropout rate in the borough fell from 8.3 percent in 2015 to 7.6 percent in 2016.