Education: 'Civil Rights Issue of Our time'?

03-03-2017
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President Donald Trump calls education the civil rights issue of our time. What are civil rights? They're the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality. The president is taking that message to a Catholic school in Orlando today where he's meeting with teachers, administrators and students.

So what is the state of education in America? Beltway Buzz is taking a look by the numbers.

  • As of 2014, the high school dropout rate was 7.1 percent

There are some disparities by race:

  • White students 5.2 percent
  • Black students 7.4 percent
  • Hispanic 10.6 percent

However numbers for all students are the lowest they've been in modern history.
The dropout rate for Hispanic students is down from more than 30 percent in 1990.

How do American students compare with their peers around the world? Well, that's less impressive.
Out of 71 countries the United States ranks:

  • 38th in math 
  • 24th in science
  • 7th in literacy

These are likely the numbers that bother President Trump the most because, afterall, what does he like to do? Win!

New Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos says she looks forward to working with the president to implement education reforms. 

"No child regardless of their zip code or family income should be denied access to quality education," she said.
     
     

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