Florida Outpaces Nation In Hispanic Graduates

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Florida’s Hispanic students are more likely to graduate high school than most states, according to a new report from Education Week.

Education Week looked at data from 2009. The report, Diplomas Count 2012, finds that Florida’s Hispanic graduation rate is 9.6 percentage points higher than the national average and ranks second in the nation.

Florida’s Hispanic females come in first place nationwide with 77.5 percent graduating.

New Jersey is tops in the country for Hispanic grad rate and total grads overall.

“When we truly embrace diversity, it contributes to the great progress of our children,” said Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. “I want to thank Florida’s teachers for their hard work to prepare our learners for graduation, college and future careers. Our state is a great example of what happens when we work together for our students.”

Looking at graduation rates for all races and ethnicity, Florida falls three percentage points below the national average.  But there’s been improvement over the last decade. Florida’s overall grad rate rose from 52.5 percent in 1999 to 70.4 percent in 2009.

Looking at the country’s largest public school systems, Florida has two districts in the top 10 for overall grad rates: Broward County at 78.3 percent and Palm Beach County at 75.4 percent. Lee County ranked eleventh at 74.6.