CCSD Graduation Rate Rate: 44.3%?

According to some think tanks an other people who like to stick their nose in other people's business, the graduation rate of Clark County high school students was 44.% in 2008.
From the Las Vegas Sun: Now, School District officials are acknowledging what critics have long suspected — that high school graduation figures have for years been inflated to paint a better picture than actually existed.
“We’ve known for a long time the community has been challenging some of the data that the district was coming out with,” said Pedro Martinez, Jones’ recently hired deputy superintendent of instruction.
“We need to have the trust of the community, the parents and all of the district’s employees,” he said. “The reality is when the data are not clear, then frankly people mistrust it. The new superintendent came in and said we’re going to find out the real numbers. Whatever the truth is that’s what we’re going to put out there.”
The issue became pointed this week when Education Week magazine reported that Clark County’s public school graduation rate was 44.3 percent in 2008, not the 68 percent figure that had been reported under Jones’ predecessor, Walt Rulffes. That’s a difference of 24 percentage points.
The results reported by Education Week were drawn from a mix of numbers reported to state and federal education officials, and they highlight the challenges Jones and his executive team face in rebuilding communitywide trust, especially among those who have claimed for years that the district has inflated graduation rates.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/10/district-ready-confront-reality-high-school-gradua/

As many of you know, I am a teacher in CCSD, but I really am a behind the scenes employee as I teach students with severe disabilities and my students have a different curriculum.
From what I can see, is that the real graduation rate is much higher than a 44.3% rate.
First, to get a full diploma, you have to pass your classes and proficiency tests in math, reading, writing and science. Most special education students are not able to pass the proficiency tests, so, already your graduation rate drops almost 20% or more.
Then you have students who come to the school district who do not read, write or speak English. It is safe to say, those students are not going to graduate with a full diploma.
Because of the economy, there have been ten's of thousands of people fleeing Clark County and those students will count as drop outs, lowering the graduation rate.
While I don't have exact figures, I'd be willing to bet that the three categories I mentioned will decrease the graduation rate at least 40%, if not more.
Then you have students who just don't want to go to school. A bus or parent will drop them in the front door and the kids are running out the back door of the school 5 minutes later.
I work in an school that would be considered inner city. We have about 95% Hispanic and African-American students. I know that between the administration and the teachers, they do their damndest to get the kids in school and passing their proficiency exams.
If a student does not attend school, they will have truancy officers and some times administrators, looking for the kids. the school has a great relationship with neighboring apartment buildings, where if the apartment managers see truant students or see a party going on in the apartment complex, they call the school and the school will send administrators, security personnel and school police to the apartment and bring the kids back to school.
The administration will issue truancy citations, along with the police, in an effort to get kids in school. This year, we have had parents fined and/or sent to jail in an effort to get kids to school.
If a kid is failing or is doing poorly in class, they will work 1 on 1 with the student in an effort for the student to pass tests and assignments. Finally, tutoring is always available to students who are having problems in class or with their proficiency exams.
So, basically, there really is no excuse for a student to fail in high school, if they want to pass and graduate. No excuse whatsoever, at least, not at our school. Now, do they do this in every school, I really don't know, but I would hope so.
So, when people who trash the school district, both liberals, conservatives and the news media about our graduation rate, they are usually full of crap.
Is CCSD perfect, of course not. There are several schools that have problems with teachers and administrators who do not communicate with parents, even to fellow teachers who have students in CCSD. There are also problems with gangs, graffiti, non-certified teachers in the area of math, science and special education and the district being top heavy with administrators.
But CCSD is also not that horrible and I am not afraid of sending my own kids to CCSD and to my high school where I teach at.
Hopefully, the new superintendent can improve things, but it will take a stick of dynamite to break up all the built in problems of the district.