10/10/08

Graduation Rates, and the Big City.

Well - now everyone is in an uproar over graduation rates. Shock and awe.

Those of us who have lived elsewhere are unsuprised by this news, to be honest.

From USA Today:

Lowest to highest graduation rates in the nation's 50 largest school districts

RateDistrictSize rankRateDistrictSize rankRateDistrictSize rank
21.7Detroit1153.7New Orleans4868.4Gwinnett County, Ga.20
38.5Baltimore City, Md.3053.8Duval County, Fla.1968.6Brevard County, Fla.42
38.9New York City154.6Clark County, Nev.669.3Fulton County, Ga.45
43.1Milwaukee2854.8DeKalb County, Ga.2770.0Hillsborough County, Fla.10
43.8Cleveland4455.1Austin3770.2Anne Arundel County, Md.40
44.2Los Angeles255.2Palm Beach County, Fla.1270.4Cobb County, Ga.26
45.3Miami-Dade County, Fla.455.5Philadelphia872.2Granite, Utah46
46.3Dallas1356.0Charlotte2375.3Mesa, Ariz.39
46.5Pinellas County, Fla.2256.2Orange County, Fla.1575.8Northside, Tex.49
46.8Denver4360.1Polk County, Fla.3477.0Jefferson County, Colo.33
48.5Memphis2162.2Jefferson County, Ky.3180.2Jordan, Utah41
48.7Broward County, Fla.563.0San Diego1681.3Cypress-Fairbanks, Tex.47
48.9Fort Worth3663.1Fresno3581.5Montgomery County, Md.17
48.9Houston763.7Hawaii (statewide)981.9Baltimore County, Md.24
50.4Nashville5066.5Virginia Beach3882.2Wake County, N.C.25
52.0Albuquerque3267.3Prince George's County, Md.1882.5Fairfax County, Va.14
52.2Chicago368.1Long Beach29 


 






Gee - guess we are not alone. Counties quite often do better than cities. So get over it. The only way to change it is with more parental involvement.

10/6/08

Stealing Thunder

Well the City Market building went off without a hitch, for now. I wonder if the Health Dept. cited anyone for carpet in the food prep area this time...

Doubtful though. 

Bowers, our overly intellegent and highly unintelligible mayor, has been stricken with "Soundbite"-itis. From the "Whatever makes Chico happy..." to the 9/11 - City Market comparison, it looks like having Bowers as mayor will be amusing, if not exactly groundbreaking.

But the big news, at least as I see it - all those biatching and moaning about nothing to do here might finally have something to keep them placated.

A major amusement/restaurant chain might/should/is coming to the Roanoke area.

How soon? I cannot say. Where? I do not know. Why? Thats obvious. 

Anyone have any stories for Haunted Roanoke? This year, I'm not forgetting to tell the tales. Starting on the 21st, 10 days straight of stories from Roanoke's past. Not all of them scary, but certainly all of them as real as they can be.

Talk to you soon, oh - and 1 month, 20 days till Black Friday.