Sharply disputing a state report, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he believes the dropout rate at Los Angeles schools is even worse than the dismal 33 percent estimated by state officials.
Villaraigosa, who previously used the dropout-rate issue as leverage to take control of a handful of schools, said the new state figures released Wednesday did not take into account all relevant factors.
For example, he said, the state report did not count students who dropped out before ninth grade.
“I’m heartened they are highlighting the dropout issue, but I know it is higher than they are saying,” Villaraigosa said. “We know it’s 50(percent) to 60 percent and in some parts of the city 65(percent) or 70percent.”
Villaraigosa said dropout rates are one of the factors he will look at with his partnership schools. “We are going to track the dropout rates and focus on what it takes to keep kids in school. Our goal is to graduate every student and see them go on to college.”
Villaraigosa took over control of the 10 schools July 1. They are among the worst-performing schools in the LAUSD.
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