New Mexico ranks last in high school graduation rate
Alarming numbers out of New Mexico as the state ranks dead last in the country when it comes to the percentage of students who graduate high school.
In 2013, The U.S. Department of Education reported the national average of high school graduations was 81 percent. ABC-7 learned New Mexico’s graduation rate was 69 percent in 2015.
The Albuquerque Public Schools district had a 61.7 percent graduation rate. The Las Cruces Public Schools district was a lot closer to the national average at 76.6 percent. The Gadsden Independent School District graduated 81 percent of its seniors in 2015.
“I actually dropped out of high school because I wanted to graduate faster and support my baby I had with my girlfriend,” Luis Martinez said. He dropped out when he was 15 years old and is now taking classes at the local non-profit, Help New Mexico, to earn his GED
‘We are trying to stop social promotion,” said New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez. “We are going to the legislature and saying, ‘don’t promote a kid to the next grade if they can’t do the schoolwork of the grade that they’re in.'”
Martinez said the state needs to focus on education for all grade levels, but she says New Mexico specifically needs to target its youngest students. “When you graduate from the 12th grade and you can’t read, you can’t read an application, you can’t fill one out. That’s more shameful,” she said.
“I think one of the biggest things that people often don’t want to acknowledge is poverty is the key element to student challenges academically,” said LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds. “It’s not because children of poverty aren’t intelligent, it’s because children of poverty have more of a hill to climb across the entire spectrum of their life.”
While state education officials work to improve the graduation rate, Luis Martinez dreams of walking across the stage come December. “I want to actually feel like I accomplished something for myself and it’s going to make my parents proud of me,” he said.
