SK> ->    Calif. state Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine
SK> -> Eastin was pleased to announce a continuation in the decline of 
SK> her
SK> -> state's school drop-out rate (Calif. DoEd press release,
SK> -> 6/4).  "I am encouraged by the efforts public school districts
SK> -> have made to reduce the number of students dropping out of
SK> -> school," she said.  The statewide rate for students in grades 9
SK> -> through 12 "decreased rather substantially" from almost 5% in
SK> -> 1993-1994 to 4.4% in 1994-1995, writes the release
    Is this due to improved student achievement or due to relaxed standards?  
    At the college level, administrators often pressure profs to not flunk 
students.  At small private schools with borderline finances, profs are 
openly told things like "100 students lost will break this school", which 
gets the message across when most of the profs teach in liberal-arts fields 
where they'd never again get jobs if the school folded.  Particularly tough 
profs without tenure are just fired, causing others to get the message.
    It's one thing to quote graduation rates, but how are objective 
measurements like average SAT scores or CAT scores doing out there?
SK> ->    During the past decade, Calif. school districts have worked
SK> -> to reduce drop-out rates by opening alternative educational
SK> -> programs to at-risk students, reports the release.  The number of
SK> -> students enrolled in alternative programs increased by 406% since
SK> -> 1985.
    And how do these alternative schools compare with normal high schools 
academically?
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