PHOENIX — The best charter high schools in Pima County see nearly every white student graduate within four years. Hispanic students graduate from these same schools at a much lower rate.
According to data from the Arizona Department of Education, 99% of white students attending “A” rated charter schools in Pima County graduated in four years at the end of the 2021 school year.
The four-year rate for Hispanic students with the same grade is 70%.
Meanwhile, white and Hispanic students graduating from similarly rated district schools in the county both had rates over 90% with a difference between them of 1.3.
In addition to the wide graduation gap between white and Hispanic students in “A” rated charter schools, there is a significant drop in four-year rates for both demographic groups in “B” rated charters: 36% for white students and 34% for Hispanic students.
Meanwhile, rates follow a “step down” pattern in district schools where those given an “A” rating by the Department of Education graduate the most students and rates fall for “B” and “C” rated district schools.
Pima County is one of three counties in the state where the absolute majority of high school graduates are Hispanic.
The other two are Yuma and Santa Cruz counties.
Hispanic students in the state’s second most populous county graduate at a rate nine points lower than their white counterparts.
This is contrary to both Santa Cruz and Yuma where the rate for Hispanic students is either close to or exceeds the rate for white students.
More Hispanic students are graduating from Arizona high schools each year.
In 2019, Hispanic students surpassed white students as the majority of four-year graduates, according to the education department’s data.
At the end of the 2021 school year, the most recent data available, 28,666 Hispanic students graduated compared to 28,305 white students.
Other demographic groups tracked by the data include Asians, African American, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
Arizona has not made progress on graduation rates in the past decade. Some of the census-designated ethnicities are doing better than others.
Graduation rates for Asian and Native American students are improving. Still, they bookend each other with Asian students consistently having the highest graduation rates of any group and Native American students having the lowest.
White and Hispanic student graduation rates fell marginally in 2021 compared to 2011, while the rate for African American students dropped four points.
One in four Arizona high school students does not graduate in a four-year timeframe, among the lowest statewide rates in the country.
To see all graduation rates for all ethnicities in Arizona check out the table below.
