New Mexico education officials say the state's graduation rate was unchanged at 70 percent last year. The New Mexico Public Education Department says the 2013 rate maintains the seven percentage point increase achieved by the Class of 2012.
The department also notes that since 2011, graduation rates have significantly improved for the state's Hispanic, Native American, African American, Economically Disadvantaged, and disabled students. Some groups had gains as large as 13 percentage points.
It also say that many of the state's school districts have seen back-to-back improvement in graduation rates since 2011, including: Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Gallup, Taos, Aztec, Lake Arthur, Hobbs, Dulce, Magdelena, Mora, Cobre, Las Vegas City Schools, and Hatch.
Still, three in ten New Mexico students don't graduate from high school. And Gov. Susana Martinez says the results underscore the need for lawmakers to pass her legislative agenda.
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