According to The Duluth New Tribune, one in four Duluth School District Seniors in 2016 did not graduate in four years, which is a dip from the year before.

As a parent with three kids in high school, this is a very scary statistic. The average graduation rate for seniors in Duluth in 2016 was 74%, which is down 3% from the year before. Across the state, the average graduation percentage rate is 82.2%

Minnesota has continued to struggle with one of the worst achievement gaps in the country, but has an overall goal of 90% by the year 2020. Again, speaking from experience of having kids in Duluth Public High Schools, I have seen first hand how challenging the curriculum can be. A lot has changed since I went to high school.

I also understand that the teachers and schools are under a lot of pressure with standardized testing, and even some funding being on the line. I was lost helping our kids with homework towards the end of middle school in some subjects; mainly math. Because of that, we have always encouraged them to ask questions and seek help from the teacher if they need it.

Hopefully with a lot of hard work being done behind the scenes, in the classroom, and in the home, we can see these numbers go up and get closer to the state average.

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