Student Achievement

In Texas Gubernatorial Showdown, Dispute Over Dropouts

April 12, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

High school dropouts in Texas have taken center stage in Democrat Bill White’s campaign to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

For several days, White, the former mayor of Houston, has been hammering away at Perry for downplaying the state’s high school dropout rate. White says three out of every 10 students don’t graduate from high school or receive a GED within four years and that Perry uses discredited figures to show higher rates of high school graduation. Perry’s campaign has mostly responded by saying that White’s dropout calculations are inaccurate.

(According to our colleagues in the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, Texas’ graduation rate in 2006 was 65.3 percent. Click here to see for yourselves.)

White has pledged to talk about the dropout issueeverywhere he campaigns, which, if he does, will be a boon to the educators and advocates who are struggling to keep more students on the path to high school graduation.

Let’s ask our Texan friends: Will the dropout issue gain and keep traction with voters? Will White keep it as a central theme to his campaign?

A version of this news article first appeared in the State EdWatch blog.

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Student Achievement History Achievement Falls to 1990s Levels on NAEP; Civics Scores Take First-Ever Dive
Eighth graders' scores in U.S. history and civics dropped on the test known as the “Nation’s Report Card."
8 min read
Photo of students taking exam on laptops.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Student Achievement Opinion Effective Summer Learning: ‘We Already Know How to Do This’
There’s no path to education equity that doesn’t include summer programs.
Chris Smith & Paul Reville
3 min read
conceptual illustration of 2 figures atop unequal boxes of summer experiences
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Frances Coch/iStock + Getty images
Student Achievement 3rd Grade Reading Retention: Three Recent Developments
New research on the impact of retention is complicating states' approaches to retaining 3rd graders who aren't yet proficient.
3 min read
Young elementary children laying on the floor reading books with a bookshelf behind them.
iStock/Getty
Student Achievement National Tutoring Venture Doles Out $5 Million for States
The organization, Accelerate, aims to bolster efforts to integrate tutoring into the school day.
4 min read
Teacher working with a student in the classroom.
xavierarnau/E+