Bullets Over the Heartland, Education Edition

In 1999, 2 of 11 middle schools in our Midwest capital had 50% or more students eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch.

In 2006, 8 of those 11 same middle schools met that criteria.

The combined on-time high school graduation rate for our district is 79% (this is actually a pretty good number, nationally).

Some of the kids in the class of 2005 (see the first bullet) were a part of a national cohort program called GEAR UP. Of the kids who were a part of the GEAR UP program, 96% graduated from high school on time.

Of those GEAR UP kids, 95% went on to college.