Governor Perdue announces a decrease in the state's school dropout rate
Governor Sonny Perdue announced on Wednesday that the state's high school drop out rate is down for the second year in a
row, thanks in part to graduation coaches.
Last year, 2,241 fewer students left high school early, a 10.6 percent decrease. During the 2006-2007 school year, the number was down 2,272, a decrease of 9.7 percent. Georgia introduced graduation coaches in 2006, and there are
more than 398 working in high schools across the state and 242 working in middle schools. The coaches work with at-risk students to get them back on the graduation track before they drop out. Georgia's high school graduation rate is 75.4 percent, up from 63.3 percent in the 2002-2003 school year.
In the past two years, 18,000 new students have entered Georgia high schools.
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