North Carolina’s dropout rate rose slightly, to 4.9 percent of students in grades 9-12, last school year—about 1,000 students more than the 2002-03 year, according to state data. The shift has prompted some state education officials to call on lawmakers to raise the state’s compulsory education age from 16 to 17.
A version of this article appeared in the February 16, 2005 edition of Education Week
