HS grad rates climb to record high: Blas

The city’s public schools saw a record high graduation rate of 72.6 percent in 2016 after five straight years of improvement, officials announced Friday.

Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña also reported a record low 8.5 percent dropout rate and improved graduation levels for black and Hispanic students.

But critics noted that the figures were boosted by shifting graduation criteria and the use of credit-recovery programs that allow kids to complete remedial work online.

“Today’s release still highlights serious problems that cannot be ignored,” said charterschool advocate Jenny Sedlis of StudentsFirstNY.

Some changes by the Board of Regents allowed students with disabilities to graduate by passing just two Regents exams instead of five, according to The New York Times.

In addition, students were able to appeal to the districts when falling short on one or two Regents exams, the Times said.

Hispanic graduation rates rose to 66.9 percent, a 2.9-percentage-point gain over the prior year. Black graduation rates jumped 2.6 points to 68.1 percent.

“Our public schools are unquestionably the strongest they’ve ever been. We’re graduating more stu- dents than ever before, and we are on track to reach our Equity and Excellence for All goal of 80 percent of students graduating on time,” de Blasio said.

The teachers union also hailed the results.

“By focusing our energy and resources on the classroom, we are making a difference for students across the city,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

De Blasio noted that the graduation rate rose 4.8 points to 59.3 percent at the city’s 31 Renewal schools.

Staten Island saw the city’s highest graduation rate at 79.3 percent, trailed by Queens (75.5 percent), Manhattan (74.6 percent), Brooklyn (72.2 percent) and The Bronx (64.8 percent).