Kansas City schools' graduation rate among lowest in nation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The troubled Kansas City School District's graduation rate ranked 40th among school districts in the nation's 50 largest cities, according to a study released today.

The district is graduating only 45.7 percent of its students, compared with a national average of 70 percent, the study from the America's Promise Alliance said.

The study also found a wide disparity between suburban graduation rates in the Kansas City area and urban graduation rates. While suburban districts graduate 82.2 percent of their students, the rate in inner-city districts is 68.4 percent.

Kansas City was one of 17 districts in the nation's 50 largest cities that had a graduation rate lower than 50 percent. The best graduation rate in the largest cities was in Mesa, Ariz., with 77.1 percent, with the lowest in Detroit at 24.9 percent.

The Kansas City district did not return phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The district has a long and troubled history. A peer review team commissioned in 2006 found that the district has a fractured administration, inefficient school board, low student performance, high staff turnover and poor operational management, among other problems.

The district currently is searching for its 25th superintendent in 39 years after its latest superintendent, Anthony Amato, resigned amid mounting tension with school board members over sweeping changes he had proposed.

And the predominantly black district is expected to lose 30 percent of its white students after voters in November approved switching seven of its most successful schools to the neighboring Independence district.