SUPERINTENDENT CARVALHO TO TESTIFY IN TALLAHASSEE

Miami-Dade County Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho will testify today at 11:30 a.m. before the House PreK-12 Education Subcommittee in Tallahassee regarding graduation rates in state high schools.  Under Carvalho’s administration, Miami-Dade’s public schools have seen a double-digit increase in graduation rates, with a growth rate surpassing that of the state.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ (M-DCPS) graduation rate last year reached an all-time high of 77.7 percent for the 2010-2011 academic year. This is a 5.6 percent increase from last year’s rate of 72.1 and the highest graduation rate M-DCPS has achieved since the Florida Department of Education began tracking graduation statistics with modern methods in the late 1990’s.  Miami-Dade improved at a significantly higher rate than the state’s improvement rate.  In fact, while the state increased its graduation rates by only one percent, Miami-Dade’s rate dramatically increased by nearly six percent.

“This trend of strong improvement is very encouraging and demonstrates that our plan to increase student achievement is working,” said Superintendent Carvalho.  “We have brought together the best teachers and school administrators in this effort to help students graduate and prepare them for college and careers.  These results come on the heels of solid reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.  Parents, teachers and school leaders can all take pride in these accomplishments,” he added.

“After dramatic increases in graduation rates despite more rigorous criteria, we are urging legislators to take a balanced approach to recent legislation that could create a graduation bottleneck that would eventually harm postsecondary placement as well as economic growth,” Carvalho said.

While in Tallahassee, Carvalho will be joining Miami-Dade School Board members in meeting with key legislators to advocate for students on issues including education funding and Supplementary Educational Services (SES).  On September 14, 2011, Carvalho testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding SES and spoke of $26 million being spent in Miami-Dade with little oversight or accountability.

Editor’s Note:  Link to video of Carvalho’s September, 2011 testimony regarding SES:

http://superintendent.dadeschools.net/index.php?news=163 (Cue to 1:20:39)

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