On paper, Alabama’s graduation rate of 89.3 percent ranks third in the country. But those rates, reported to the U.S. Department of Education, were inflated, says Alabama’s new school superintendent. The state was counting occupational diplomas with lower standards and didn’t adequately supervise school systems that may have been granting diplomas to students who hadn’t earned them.
State School Superintendent Michael Sentance says, “This is a black eye for the department and it makes the education system here look bad, and in some ways undeservedly so.”
Sentance told the State Board of Education during a Thursday meeting that he is working on a solution.
“We need to make sure that when a student says I have a diploma from an Alabama high school it means something powerful,” he says.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley says he’s alarmed and disappointed by the report. Former Superintendent Tommy Bice has said he stands by his decision to include occupational diplomas in the count for high school graduation.