There was a steady increase in high school graduation rates throughout the city between 2005 and 2018, according to data from the New York City Department of Education. The data covers public, non-charter high schools across all five boroughs, which encompasses 32 school districts and records for each school, the number of students in each class year as well as how many graduated with their cohort. 

Looking at data from high schools across all NYC school districts, the average graduation rate was 59.68 percent for the class of 2005. By the time the class of 2018 graduated, the average rate was 72.2 percent.

The average graduation rates for school district 32, which encompasses Bushwick and includes schools like the EBC High School for Public Service and the Brooklyn School for Social Justice, were on par with the rest of the city in recent years. The average graduation rate for high schools within district 32 was 72.5 percent for the graduating class of 2018.

This is a significant improvement from the early to mid 2000s, when Bushwick high schools had graduation rates 15-25 percent lower than the average rates for NYC schools. In school district 32, the class of 2004 had only 44.8 percent of its cohort graduate, and the class of 2006 only 37.9 percent.

Graph courtesy of Paige Cromley.

Top image by Ekrulila via Pexels.

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