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New Study Shows Graduation Rates At Ohio's Charter Schools Are Much Worse Than Public Schools

Howard Fleeter
The State of Ohio - Ohio Public Television
Howard Fleeter

A new study shows the graduation rates of Ohio’s traditional public schools are much better than those of charter schools. 

The study shows even when excluding dropout-recovery schools, the four-year graduation rate of charter schools in Ohio is just under 45%, faring worse than public schools in Ohio’s six largest cities. Schools in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron and Toledo graduated 73% of their students. Howard Fleeter of the Ohio Education Policy Institute, the group who conducted the study, says there are racial disparities too.

“White non-Hispanic students graduated at a 92.8% rate. Hispanic students graduated at an 80.4% rate. Black, non-Hispanic students graduated at a 78.4% rate.”

Fleeter says poor, rural districts performed better than their urban counterpoints. 92 percent of students in those rural districts graduated on time. 

Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.