Posted on 02/01/2006 7:56:24 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
Sen. John Kerry claimed this morning on NBC TODAY that only 53% of America's children graduate from high school -- a claim that raised eyebrows in the NBC control room, sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT.
Kerry made the comments after host Katie Couric asked the former presidential candidate about the Bush's State of the Union call to train 70,000 additional teachers in math and science.
COURIC: He wanted to train 70,000 additional teachers in math and science.
KERRY: That's terrific. But 53 percent of our children don't graduate from high school. Kids don't have after-school programs... He didn't ask America to sacrifice anything to achieve great goals and the biggest example is making the tax cut permanent for the wealthiest people in America. The average American struggles to find time to take carry of families, working two or three jobs... It's a disgrace. He did not tell the real state of the union.
Kerry's 53% claim conflicts with a recent press release from the U.S. Census Bureau: "High School Graduation Rates Reach All-Time High"
And the Census Bureau's own website states: 85.9 Percent Of Americans Aged 20-24 Are High School Graduates. (U.S. Census Bureau Website, www.census.gov , Accessed 2/1/06)
Kerry's figures probably include illegal immigrants.
Yupe, actually, 100% of high school students did not graduate until after their graduation.
Like the old joke; I never kissed my wife until after we were married (before our marriage she wasnt my wife)
An all-time high 85 percent of U.S. adults age 25 and over had completed at least high school in 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Also in 2003, 27 percent of adults age 25 and over had a college degree, another record.
The percentage of non-Hispanic whites (89 percent) and blacks (80 percent) who had a high school diploma or higher marked new highs. The proportion of blacks rose by 10 percentage points from 1993 to 2003, while non-Hispanic whites saw an increase of 5 percentage points in this category.
Women Shine as Scholars The census report, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003, [PDF] said women made large gains in earning college degrees.
thats better then his senate attendance
What is his plan?
Throwing more money at the problem I hope!
/sarcasm
I was shocked! When JohnFKerry started listing all the problems with Homeland Security ( North Korea, Iran, Hammas, etc) The Perky One actually said - "But can you really blame all that on the Bush administration?"
I thought that maybe I had woke up in a parallel universe! One where Katie Couric actually asked a REAL question to a democrat.
What is going on ???
I'm sure they are right, for the DUmmies. The graduation rate for DUmmies is probably around 10%.
"The DUmmies are swearing up and down that Kerry is right,..."
They should know!
Of course, Kerry's numbers don't add up.
But a far graver issue than kids dropping out of school is the large number of kids who stay in school and who can't read.
As for the rest of America, with largely intact families, he's so far off as to be just funny.
why dont public schools just out-source to private catholic schools for half the cost and twice the edumacation?
A typical public school costs 10,000 per student
A typical private school costs 4000 (but you still have to pay your 'school taxes' too)
58% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
He's wrong.
The stats are a bit slippery, but the best study I'm aware of put the national graduation rate at 71% (1988).
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo.htm
To get into the mid 50s you either have to look at rate for for African-American and Latino students nationally, or the overal rate for a state such as Georgia.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_baeo_t2.htm
Apparently those 53% are headline writers. :)
Yes, it does however due to laws they are provided free education and do, drop out.
The actual cost is far higher. For public schools, the "cost per student" is based on the dollars that actually go to a classroom. It does not include capital costs such as school construction and maintenence for example.
The statistic is wrong. Still, isn't it interesting that proponents of the public schools use their failure as a justification to ask for more money, more control over children's time and new programs like mandatory pre-school. In most areas of endeavor chronic failures are relieved of responsibility, not granted even more of it.
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