Hoboken HS Graduation Rate Drops -7.46% to 74.53% (2nd lowest rate in Hudson County) while New Jersey Statewide HS Graduation Rate Rises 3.29% to 86.46% in Latest NJ Department of Education's Graduation Rate Data

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The most recent NJ High School graduation rates were released recently by the New Jersey Department of Education. The data represents the final adjusted numbers for the 2012 high school graduating classes throughout the state. The state average graduation rate rose 3.29% from 83.17% in 2011 to 86.46% in 2012. Hoboken High School posted a 2012 high school graduation rate of 74.53%. This is a -7.46% drop from the 2011 Hoboken High School graduation rate of 81.98% and was the largest percentage drop in Hudson County. 

"The high school graduation rate is a measure of the health of American society and the skill level of its future workforce. Throughout the first half of the 20^th century, each new cohort of Americans was more likely to graduate high school than the preceding one. This upward trend in secondary education increased worker productivity and fueled American economic growth" (Aaronson and Sullivan, 2001). 

Hoboken High School has had 4 principals since February of 2010 (!). In addition, there have been numerous Vice-Principals, each with equally short terms. This turnover, instability, lack of leadership, and high suspension rate can only contribute negatively to the high school's graduation rate. What is especially disturbing is Hoboken has dropped from the fourth to the second lowest graduation rate in Hudson County. 

	2012	2011	Change
HUDVOTECH	100.00%	98.48%	1.52%
SECAUCUS	97.06%	93.37%	3.69%
HARRISON	92.70%	92.44%	0.26%
WEEHAWKEN	86.75%	85.37%	1.38%
KEARNY	83.58%	88.45%	-4.87%
STATE AVG	86.46%	83.17%	3.29%
NORTH BERGEN	82.87%	86.17%	-3.30%
UNION CITY	82.87%	89.46%	-6.59%
BAYONNE	79.22%	78.53%	0.69%
WEST NEW YORK	76.14%	72.77%	3.37%
HOBOKEN	74.53%	81.99%	-7.46%
JERSEYCITY	67.34%	69.92%	-2.58%

Commentary: In reflecting on Aaronson and Sullivan's words, what does the current graduation rate say about the health and skill levels of the Hoboken students under the stewardship of the political group known as Kids First and the district's revolving door of administrators? Why has this data not been reported at any Board of Education meeting to date? Is Hoboken becoming a "good news only" school district where objective and independent data collected by the State of New Jersey is neither evaluated, analyzed, or reported? The district was certainly quick to report on some nominal gains on state testing recently. One certainly must wonder the reasons unflattering data such as the high school graduation rate are not being reported by the district. Whatever the reason(s)--- the data and the trend of the data is disturbing.   

For information on how high school graduation rate is calculated by the New Jersey Department of Education CLICK HERE. 

For State by State HS Graduation Rate CLICK HERE

Reference: Aaronson Daniel, Sullivan Daniel. Growth in Worker Quality. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Perspectives. 2001;25(4):53–74.