Obama praises record high school graduation rate as he promotes education legacy

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High school graduation rates in America have reached record levels, President Obama announced today, as he sought to promote his education legacy.

Speaking at a high school in Washington DC, Obama said that graduation rates had reached the all-time high of more than 83 per cent, although he stressed there was much that still needed to be done.

“When I took office almost eight years ago, we knew our education system was falling short when it cam to preparing young people,” he told students at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.

“Our public schools had been the envy of the world but the world caught up and we started getting outpaced when it came to maths and science education.”

African American and Latino students still underperform at school compared to their white peers, he said, partly because of the legacy of discrimination they have suffered.

“I said, by 2020 I want us to be No. 1 again across the board, so we got to work making real changes to improve the chances for all of our young people from the time they’re born to when they get a career,” Obama added. “And the good news is that we’ve made real progress.”

As well as record levels of high school graduation across the country, he pointed out the progress made in the capital, where graduation rates have risen from 53 to 69 per cent in the past five years.

The president acknowledged that some of the reforms introduced by his administration had been controversial. “We expected more from our teachers and our students but the hard work people have put in across the country has started to pay off,” he said.

Obama said moves to improve high quality preschool provision and his landmark Race to the Top policies had been among his most important achievements.

He also praised school staff, saying there was nothing more important than great teachers.

“We have focused on preparing and developing and supporting and rewarding excellent educators,” he said to a roomful of students.

“You all know how hard they work, staying up late grading your assignments … they pull sometimes money out of their own pockets to make that lesson extra special.

“And I promise you that teachers here and teachers around the country are not doing it for the pay. Teachers unfortunately are still not paid as much as they should be. They are not doing it for the glory. They are doing it because they love you, they believe in you and they want to see you succeed.”

Video of Obama speech (starts at 28 minutes)

Obama promised more work to encourage girls to study computer science and said he was working with private and philanthropic partners to “bring our schools into the 21st century”.

He stressed to his audience - whose school has a 100 per cent high school graduation rate - that it was important to move on to higher education and talked about reforms to make college more affordable.

However, the president said too many states were making cuts to higher education and were also failing to effectively raise standards.