Twenty-three percent of students who were ninth-graders in 1999
completed all the classes necessary to get into the University of
California and the California State University systems, according
to a report issued by an education policy organization.
The group found that about 70 percent of ninth-graders in 1999
finished high school four years later, a figure confirmed by state
education officials.
Some school administrators said the report doesn’t take
into account outside factors influencing student success, which
schools are hard-pressed to address.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District, Deputy
Superintendent Merle Price noted that nearly a third of the
system’s 180,000 high school students are still learning
English. Some of these students need extra time to finish high
school and are unable to keep up with the challenging college-prep
curriculum, he said.
Compiled from Bruin reports and wire services.