Lee School District ranks ninth in America
Earlier this month, Education Week magazine released a study involving the class of 2007 from the nation’s 50-largest school districts (in terms of student enrollment) to compare and rank school districts in terms of graduation rate. Lee County Public Schools is very proud to announce that it ranked ninth on the list!
That’s right, of the 50-largest schools districts in America (of which, Lee County ranks 40th in size,) Lee County Public Schools had the ninth-highest graduation rate for the class of 2007 at 72.5 percent. In addition, Lee County Public Schools was the highest ranking Florida district on the list with a graduation rate higher than Brevard, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Pinellas, Broward, Polk, Duval and Miami-Dade counties (the other large Florida districts ranked.)
“Once again our District ranks at the top nationally and it’s all due to the hard work of our teachers, students and staff,” said Dr. James Browder, Superintendent of Schools. “We’ve implemented numerous programs from a standardized K-12 curriculum to our comprehensive high schools all with the goal of keeping kids in school and on track, and national education research shows it is working.”
Education Week studied the class of 2007 and used various criteria when ranking the nation’s 50-largest districts. Researchers looked at the progression students made from ninth through 12th grade and, ultimately, graduating on time with a diploma.
What’s even more encouraging is that the rankings are based on information that is a few years old the most recent graduation rate for Lee County Public Schools increased since the class of 2007 (up to 77.6 percent), so future studies should show the District’s ranking either holding steady or improving as compared to the other large American school districts.
“While this is great news and yet another indication that we are a leader nationally there is still much work to be done,” said Browder. “We expect our graduation rate to rise every year we’ll never be satisfied with the status quo.”