U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman introduced legislation aimed at improving high school graduation rates and turning around struggling high schools. The Graduation Promise Act would provide federal funds to improve high schools in which a high percentage of students do not graduate on time.

    About one-third of the students who enter ninth grade will not graduate from high school in four years, if at all.  In New Mexico, only 54 percent of students statewide will graduate in four years. Outcomes for African American, Hispanic and Native American students in the state are even worse: approximately 50 percent Hispanic students, 45 percent of Native American students and 52 percents of African American students graduate on time. Students from low-income families drop out of school at a rate six times higher than their more affluent peers.

    “We cannot afford to let underperforming high schools continue to push students off the path to prosperity. We must ensure our nation's economic competitiveness by promising each high school student a chance to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue his or her dreams and succeed in college or the workplace. The Graduation Promise Act will help to make that possible,” Bingaman said.

    GPA would invest up to $2.5 billion each year in struggling high schools.

    Funding would be awarded on a competitive basis to allow schools to develop partnerships with local communities, education experts, businesses, and parents to implement dropout prevention initiatives such as mentorship and apprenticeship programs, and “early college high schools.”

GPA also authorizes $60 million in competitive grants annually for the development and implementation of successful school models geared toward students who are struggling in conventional education settings.

    “The Graduation Promise Act is an investment in our nation's future.  No longer can we, as a nation, afford to stand by while millions of our youth fail to earn high school diplomas,” Bingaman said.