On Tuesday, the Department of Public Instruction released the latest round of graduation rate data for Wisconsin. While it showed that more students were earning diplomas in four years in 2012 than they had in 2010 and 2011, there was still a persistent gap in attainment between the state’s white, African American, and Hispanic students. A closer look at that data suggests that this problem is prevalent in the state’s biggest cities – but minimal in Milwaukee.
A survey of 18 Wisconsin districts – all districts that served more than 7,000 students plus Beloit and Superior – showed that double-digit differences in four-year graduation rates persisted in 16 cities. Only Elmbrook, with high matriculation marks across the board, and Superior, which didn’t have enough minority students to comprise a significant sample size, avoided this label. Gaps between African-American students and white students were, on average, 10.1 percent higher than the gaps between Hispanic students and white students in these cities.