LAUSD dropouts rise

Fewer students are graduating from Los Angeles Unified high schools and more are dropping out, according to statewide data released Tuesday.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

LAUSD officials disputed the multi-year trend portrayed by the state figures, stressing that over the last three years they've made steady gains in retaining students.

Still, they also acknowledged that their own single-year figures for 2008-09 were actually worse than the statistics released by the state, with a lower graduation rate and a higher dropout rate.