The Kentucky Department of Education says the state's public schools showed improvement in graduation and dropout rates during the 2006-2007 scholastic year.Department spokesperson Lisa Gross says the numbers are included in the latest non-academic data released Wednesday."Even though the movement has been slight, for the most part everything has been going in the right direction. our dropout rate has gotten a little lower, our graduation rate has gotten a little higher, and those are the two things that people probably pay the most atttention to."Kentucky's dropout rate in 06-07 was nearly 3.2%, down from about 3.3% percent the previous year. The graduation rate rose by less than half a percentage point.Jefferson County's dropout rate was about 6%, down from about 7% the previous year. The graduation rate dropped by nearly one percent. Rates varied widely from school to school in the state's largest district.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.