Texas' high school graduation rate reaches record high

Graduation rates for Texas' black and Hispanic students topped 80 percent for the first time in state history in 2011, but they still lagged behind the record-setting overall graduation rate of 86 percent, the Texas Education Agency reported Friday.

Hispanic graduation rates increased 3 percentage points to 81.8 percent, while black students' rate increased 2 percentage points to 80.9 percent.

"It is good news, but certainly we still have a lot of work to do," said Laura Murillo, president of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Statewide, boys continue to be less likely to graduate, with a rate of 83.7 percent, compared to the 88.2 percent of girls. The graduation rate for Houston ISD's Class of 2011 was 78.5 percent, according to figures the district released last month.

Reducing the number of high school dropouts has been identified as a key issue for the state's economic success. A Texas A&M University study from 2009 found that one year's class of dropouts costs Texas $9.6 billion in lost wages, reduced sales tax and welfare expenses.

Lifetime earnings

Young people who receive their high school diplomas earn about $630,000 more during their lives than those without diplomas or GEDs, according to a National Council of La Raza report released earlier this year.

Several forces, including increasing effort from mentors, politicians and parents, have helped convince young Hispanic students of the importance of completing high school and even earning advanced degrees, Murillo said.

The Class of 2011's gains come amid tougher graduation requirements. These were the first students required to finish four years of math and science to graduate. Students must complete Algebra I, Algebra II, geometry and one other math class. Science credits must include biology, chemistry and physics.

"This class was expected to meet higher graduation requirements than any class before it," Todd Webster, chief deputy commissioner of the TEA, said in a statement. "This group of students not only rose to the challenge, but they raised the bar."

In 2010-2011, Texas allocated $500 million in state and federal funding for dropout prevention and recovery initiatives.

"We have seen a lot of school districts doing things right," said Robert Sanborn, president of Children at Risk, a Houston-based nonprofit that calculates its own school rankings and dropout rates. "It's just not the miracle that some of the data portrays."

Numbers not 'stellar'

Excluded from the dropout rate - which was 6.8 percent for the Class of 2011 - are more than 86,000 young people who left Texas public schools to move to another state or country, to attend private school or to be home-schooled.

"The numbers are not as stellar as we're seeing right here," Sanborn said. "We still have to account for the shenanigans that are happening."

jennifer.radcliffe@chron.com