Education

Mayor Villaraigosa is a weirdo. Wouldn't you think a mayor would try to make his city look better rather than worse, "33%? Ha! Try 60%. In fact, only a few kids in my city care about school!"

What this actually shows are the incentives created by government's perverse funding philosophy: The worse you are, the more money you get.

From here.

Sharply disputing a state report, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he believes the dropout rate at Los Angeles schools is even worse than the dismal 33 percent estimated by state officials.

Villaraigosa, who previously used the dropout-rate issue as leverage to take control of a handful of schools, said the new state figures released Wednesday did not take into account all relevant factors.

For example, he said, the state report did not count students who dropped out before ninth grade.

"I'm heartened they are highlighting the dropout issue, but I know it is higher than they are saying," Villaraigosa said. "We know it's 50(percent) to 60 percent and in some parts of the city 65(percent) or 70percent."