Utah girls most likely to graduate

Utah girls are more likely to graduate from high school than those in any other state in the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Women's Law Center.

Utah's 12 percent dropout rate for girls is the nation's lowest, states "When Girls Don't Graduate, We All Fail: A Call to Improve High School Graduation Rates for Girls." No. 2 Minnesota posts a 17 percent dropout rate. Georgia's dropout rate is 41 percent, the worst in the study.

Seven states — New Hampshire, Nevada, New York , Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee — and Washington, D.C., were not included in the report because the U.S. Department of Education lacked sufficient data.

Girls drop out near the same rates as boys — about half of the estimated 1.2 million dropouts in the Class of 2007, the report states. But girls face tougher consequences.

Female dropouts earn 63 cents for every $1 a male dropout earns, the report states. Those women earned an average $15,500 a year, below the federal poverty line of $16,600 for a family of three, versus about $22,000 for women who graduated from high school. They also are more likely to depend on public support programs such as Medicaid.

These numbers are especially important considering the link between dropouts and pregnancy. A Gates Foundation survey quoted in the report found 33 percent of female dropouts said parenthood played a major role in their decision to leave school. Another study found 27 percent said pregnancy was a reason, behind not liking or failing school.

Utah's high graduation rate among girls comes as no surprise to Brenda Hales, state associate superintendent over student achievement and school success. She also cites Utah's relatively unique programs for teen mothers and dropout prevention.

"You can't succeed in today's world without a high school diploma, and it's getting to a point you can't succeed in today's world without a high school diploma and pretty sound academic growth behind that," Hales said.

Utah offers school districts money for teen parent programs, which have a set curriculum in addition to the Three R's on parenting, finance, and child care. Teen parents often receive on-site child care at school, and lessons from experts on health care, child rearing and social services they might access, Hales said.

Utah also has a dropout recovery program that includes outreach to find students not attending school and bring them back.