Marin County continues to have one of the lowest high school dropout rates in California and that rate fell in the past year, even as the state’s overall dropout rate is on the rise.
The county’s rate of 1.4 percent for 2008-09 — the most recent year for which data are available — fell from the previous year’s rate of 1.8 percent, and is well below the state average of 4.5 percent, released Tuesday by the California Department of Education.
Marin school officials say they plan to continue working to eliminate the county’s dropout rate altogether.
“One student who drops out of school is one too many,” said Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke. “The loss of any young person before their education is completed means a more difficult life for that student, and too often a loss of productivity and civic participation in our community.”