How Does Philadelphia Compare?

 
by KYW's Mike DeNardo

Philadelphia is not alone when it comes to cities tackling the dropout problem.  But how does Philadelphia's 42-percent dropout rate compare with other big cities?

Courtney Collins-Shapiro (above) heads the school district's Multiple Pathways to Graduation office:

"We're sort of right in the middle. We're not proud of it. It's just bad, and we need to figure out a way to get out of this hole."

A Johns Hopkins study shows Detroit with a 59 percent dropout rate, and Chicago at 49 percent. Hopkins research scientist Ruth Curran Neild (right):

"Places like Detroit have considerably lower graduation rates than places like Philadelphia. But Philadelphia is very comparable to places like Chicago, New York, and Washington DC, because they're struggling with many of the same issues."

Neild says Philadelphia is on the forefront nationally when it comes to making the dropout rate a political priority:

"Philadelphia is being looked to around the country now as a place that has really gotten its act together, at least with developing some civic interest in the issue of dropouts, and thinking about how dropouts can be reengaged."

Under a program partially funded by the Gates Foundation, Collins-Shapiro has been meeting with her counterparts in New York, Boston, and Portland, Ore., comparing strategies to prevent kids from dropping out, and to bring them back to school if they do.

(Photos by KYW's Mike DeNardo)