"The Graduation Rate Isn't a One-Year Accomplishment"

In the face of extraordinary disruptions to public education, Oregon logged a statewide graduation rate of 80.6% in 2021, sustaining the important and equitable gains our state made prior to the pandemic.

That happened in no small part thanks to educators’ deep dedication to student success, said Ryan Richardson, the principal at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie. “The idea of a core belief that students will be successful, can be successful and therefore we will treat them as such, is such an engrained value,” said Richardson in The Oregonian. “It hasn’t gone away.”

Yet the story of Oregon’s 2021 graduation rate extends far beyond the past year. It’s the result of a growing collective effort to ensure every child has access to equitable education and individualized learning that gives them the skills they need to thrive in life.

"The graduation rate isn’t a one-year accomplishment. Each diploma is an individual success story, and in most cases the product of 13 years of public education,” writes Tricia Mooney, the superintendent of Hermiston School District, in The Oregon Way. “The path starts in kindergarten and relies on dozens of teachers and staff who invest in the student year in and year out. They all play a role in the victory."

At Foundations for a Better Oregon, we are honoring Oregon’s tireless students—all those who have earned their high school diploma, and all those for whom our state must do more to help achieve this milestone. We are also deeply grateful to the families, educators, school and community leaders, and many more Oregonians who are supporting Oregon students along their path to graduation.