NEW YORK - The graduation rate for high school students continues to rise throughout the city and state.

A record 69.6 percent of city students who entered high school in the class of 2016, according to the state education department, graduated on time last June.

"It's a very good day in New York City," Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said.

The city's graduation rate is up two percentage points from last year, and the statewide rate climbed to nearly 80 percent.

Statewide, 78.1 percent of students graduated within four years.

Nationwide, graduation rates have been steadily climbing to record levels, too.

But with Mayor Bill de Blasio running for re-election, he and his education team were eager to tout the city's gains.

"We have reached a historic new level in New York City," the mayor said.

However, racial and ethnic achievement gaps persist.

A breakdown of the 2016 city graduates shows 83.3 percent were Asian, 80 percent were white, 64.6 percent were black, and 63.5 percent were Hispanic.

The mayor says his education policies, including universal Pre-kindergarten, are working to dismantle longtime inequities.

"I am very optimistic that when you kind of layer all of these pieces, they go right to the heart of the achievement gap and allow us to really even things up," de Blasio said.

Another problem: the graduation rate for students learning English is slipping, falling to 27 percent from 37 percent in just one year, and the dropout rate among these students surged more than five percentage points. The state education commissioner called that "disturbing."

The chancellor said the city is working with a Harvard professor to find new ways to serve students learning English, but said she thinks they're doing better than ever.

"I actually think our percentage of working with ELLs has improved across the board, in all areas," Fariña said.

While the overall graduation rate is improving, large numbers of those graduates still are not prepared to handle college studies.

Only half of city students who earned a high school diploma in June are ready for college-level work. The mayor said he wants 100 percent of graduates ready for college, but it's a distant goal.

A decade ago, in 2006, 49.1 percent of students had graduated on time.

New York City graduation rate over time:

  • 2005: 46.5 percent
  • 2006: 49.1 percent
  • 2007: 52.8 percent
  • 2008: 56.4 percent
  • 2009: 59.0 percent
  • 2010: 61.0 percent
  • 2011: 60.9 percent
  • 2012: 60.4 percent
  • 2013: 61.3 percent
  • 2014: 64.2 percent
  • 2015: 67.2 percent
  • 2016: 69.6 percent