Report: Minneapolis public school graduation rates rank 45th among 50 biggest US cities

A new report from America’s Promise Alliance, a group founded by Colin Powell, ranks Minneapolis public schools near the bottom in a study of graduation rates in the country’s 50 largest cities. Using data from 2003-04, the “Cities in Crisis” report cites a local four-year graduation rate of 43.7 percent. A PDF of the full report is posted here. 

As Kevin Diaz notes in the Strib, public school officials were quick to challenge the embarrassing report, pointing to internal numbers that claim a 60.7 percent grad rate in 2005-06 and 67.2 percent in 2007.

Take heart, though: A study by Men’s Health magazine (featured much more prominently at Startribune.com) says that Minneapolis has the 10th-best teeth in the country — trailing St. Paul, which ranked fourth.