County Rankings

[coredumped]

Not sure where to put this. This site shows the county rankings for the USA:
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/

Here's Duval:
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/florida/duval

Does anyone else things 56% high school graduation rate is WAY too low? The state on average is low, but that just seems terrible.

[Miss Fixit]

Does anyone else things 56% high school graduation rate is WAY too low? The state on average is low, but that just seems terrible.

It's disgraceful, and the graduation rate for minorities is even more horrifying.  There is a group in Jacksonville that is working hard to improve the quality of education here.  Check out
saveduvalschools.org

[Wacca Pilatka]

The Weavers also have the Quality Education for All initiative.

[tufsu1]

from what I understand, the Duval graduation rate has improved to near 70% over the last few years...still not good, but a significant improvement.

[Dog Walker]

When are we going to face up to the fact that our educational system is not serving a large percentage of our young people?  Our current educational system design of segregated age grades and lockstep curriculum was put in place in the 1890's.

We are simply not in the same world anymore and need to do a redesign from the basic assumptions up.

[Overstreet]

What do you want to bet that the system may be bad but drop out rates and poor performance follows social economic trends more than the school? For example, St Johns and Clay counties place higher than Duval. Both have populations with higher education level achieved and higher median income.

If the parents didn't finish High School and don't emphase educaiton  the kids won't either. 

[jandar]

Clay has also taken the initiative and added "shop" back to high school.
You can get a jr apprenticeship in everything from electrical to refrigeration and plumbing before graduating high school without having to transfer to a different school. You go to your neighborhood school just like all of your friends.

You can get culinary experience, or your cisco certs when you graduate high school just by going
to Ridgeview High School in Clay County. You don't have to transfer or go half a day at one school then another. Duval county in my opinion got away from this.

Not every kid is going to go to college. Prepare them for the work environment.
But if you goto Orange Park, Fleming Island, or Middleburg High School, you can take college credit classes in Accounting or Business, better preparing them for College.

Every high school in Clay County has a college/work preparation program, and most programs are offered at multiple schools.
http://www.clay.k12.fl.us/cte/cte_programs.htm

Duval continues to think seperate schools for everything, even when the forced NAACP busing requirements stopped, Duval still thought about busing students to different schools. Why not offer it at all schools? Why must a child bus around to attend a business program, it should be at their school already.
Once they stop this mindset, they can attend to the kids needs.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Did Duval eliminate vocational/technical training altogether?  I know the old Stanton building in LaVilla was used for a vocational/technical school for some years after Stanton High relocated...

[finehoe]

Similarly, Gallup has an interactive graph on all 50 states' well being, economic outlook, and politics:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/125066/State-States.aspx