/ Modified mar 18, 2015 12:31 p.m.

High School Minority Grad Rate Declines in Arizona

One of four states showing worse numbers, while other Western states register big improvements.

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The high school graduation gap for minority students has gotten worse in Arizona, while improving elsewhere, says a federal report out this week.

The study from the U.S. Department of Education said that from 2011 to 2013, graduation rates for black, Latino and American Indian high school students in Arizona declined from 78 percent to 75 percent.

Nationally, the rate for those minority groups rose nearly 4 percentage points, and the graduation rate for all students hit a record 81 percent in 2013, the report said.

Arizona Education Association President Andrew Morrill blamed the state's decline on policy decisions at the state level.

"These numbers provide a bit of a mirror that is a reflection of very poor policy decision that has been made," Morrill said.

Three of Arizona’s neighbors – New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah – were among the states with the greatest improvements in high school graduation rates.

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