South Carolina’s high school dropout rate has dropped.
South Carolina Department of Education spokesman Jim Foster says South Carolina’s dropout rate was stable at around 8,000 for several years, but did improve for the 2008-09 school year, dropping by 1,000 students. But Foster says even with the drop, that’s 7,000 too many dropouts.
AUDIO: Foster on dropping out (:46)
Foster says, “Some students and their parents need to get over a big hurdle, the idea that high school diplomas aren’t important anymore.”
The non-profit group Citizens for Responsible Government (SCRG) recently sent out a press release that information from the U.S. Department of Education indicated “another rise” in the state’s dropout rate, a total of 8,000 for the 2007-08 school year. Foster says SCRG did not have access to the newest figures that showed the drop.
