In Washington, DC, where the high school graduation rate is only 57 percent, what happens to the other 43 percent? Many later try to earn their diplomas by passing the GED, but only 34 percent of those taking the GED exam in DC pass it (compared to 70 percent nationwide). In this week's Washington City Paper, Garance Franke-Ruta puts a human face on these glum statistics in a long cover story on dropouts trying to turn their lives around.
"Filling in the blanks," by Garance Franke-Ruta, Washington City Paper, June 8, 2001. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cover/cover.html