http://www.kgw.com/story/news/educat...tion/22440043/
#1 in worst schools in the country.
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A report released by the U.S. Department of Education shows Oregon at the bottom of the list when it comes to the percentage of kids who graduate from high school in four years.
Oregon's rate was 68.7 percent in 2013, making it dead last among states. The District of Columbia graduated 62.3 percent.
Iowa was first with a graduation rate of 89.7 percent.
We set out to talk with teens about why students drop out.
At a park next to Madison High School in Northeast Portland, Marcus Hughes hangs out with friends in the middle of the day.
He's a junior who used to attend Madison and routinely skip class.
"Skipping class just sounded a lot better than sitting through six hours of nothing. I really felt like I wasn't doing much," he said.
Soon he was so far behind he felt he'd never catch up.
"You're not going to come back," said Hughes, shaking his head.
But unlike many people he knows, Marcus did not throw in the towel completely. He's attending an alternative school and working toward his G.E.D.
"I wanted to get that piece of paper that said I have an education. And something that can take me to a college where I can get a good job. A good trade," he said.
Not far away, Josue Lopez walked with his father toward the family car.
He's a sophomore transferring in to Madison because he thinks it will be better academically than his last school.
He also knows kids who have already dropped out.
One is a 16 year old girl who got pregnant.
The other, he said, is a teen from Mexico hit with the cold reality of finances.
"His parents brought him here but his dad got deported and his mom, she didn't work and he had to drop out to maintain his family basically," Lopez said.
He has also considered dropping out.
"I'm not gonna lie, at some moments yeah. But like, I'm working, so I'm gonna work hard now for my family so I can make them happy so I can graduate on time," he said.
His father Rafael is one of the people he wants to make happy. Rafael has worked for 16 years at Popeye's Chicken. He is proud that Lopez's brother is the first in the family to graduate high school. Now, he's not about to let Lopez drop out.
Still, the teen is fighting peer pressure from friends who already have.
"It's always what crowd you go into. It's easy to go into the crowd. It's hard to get out of the crowd. That's how it is," he said.
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