Study: Decline seen in Calif. high graduation rate

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new study shows California is among the states that are falling behind in graduating high school students.

The study released Monday by a children's advocacy coalition led by former Secretary of State Colin Powell named the state as one of 10 where graduation rates declined between 2002 and 2009.

California had a 72.7 percent graduation rate in 2002, when the national average was 72.6 percent. By 2009, it had graduated 8,913 fewer students and the rate had fallen to 71 percent, while the national average climbed to 75.5 percent.

But the report found that fewer California students are attending what its authors term "dropout factories" — schools that fail to graduate more than 60 percent of students on time.

The number of high schools meeting that definition declined from 129 to 126.