Oregon Public Broadcasting

After three years of improvement, the dropout rate at Oregon's public high schools took a step back last year. Rob Manning reports.

The dropout rate rose from 4.1 percent to 4.4 percent – meaning not quite one in twenty high schoolers left, and didn’t return, during last school year. The number of students who left at some point over the past four years also looks worse this year, at about 14 percent.

The rise was driven, in part, by high schools experiencing rapid growth – such as Centennial and David Douglas - on the edge of Portland. Centennial’s dropout rate nearly tripled in the last two years.

But the trend wasn't unique to east Portland. Ontario High School in eastern Oregon saw its dropout rate quadruple to over 11 percent. High schools in Willamina and Warrenton also saw big jumps in dropout numbers.

The report has some bright spots, like the big high schools in the Reynolds and Woodburn districts where there were fewer dropouts last year.