PORTLAND, Ore. — The graduation rate is on the rise in the Portland Public School District.
This is the ninth year in a row that it has gone up.
It was while they were in a leadership conference that district leaders got the good news that the graduation rate in 2018 went up by about two percent compared to the previous school year.
The new graduation rate was 79.61 percent.
In the 2009-2010 school year, the rate was just 53.5 percent.
The district says for the third year in a row, its graduation rate has outpaced the overall rate for the State of Oregon.
Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said the improvement is thanks to more money and attention being given to students.
“It’s a comprehensive set of strategies. There’s no silver bullet,” Guerrero said.
He said the improvements are also due to personalized attention directed at PPS students.
Dr. Rita Moore, the Chair of the Board of Directors for PPS said the district needs funding that is not only adequate but stable and predictable.
“When we’re making investments, we need to know those investments will be sustainable over the long haul,” said Moore. “That is what’s going to move the needle for students.”
Guerrero said schools have been woefully underfunded for too long. But district leaders will continue to push for more money to keep improving the graduation rate and student success.
Another big gain for Portland Public Schools is that the graduation rate for black students in particular went up more than five percent from the 2016-2017 school year.