Education chief rewarding schools for grad rates

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's schools chief plans a Statehouse ceremony to celebrate and financially reward high schools that have greatly improved their graduation rates.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is set to honor on Wednesday the 12 Indiana high schools that have shown the largest increases in non-waiver graduation rates from 2009 to 2010. The state's Graduate Rate Performance Program gives up to $20,000 to staff members of the 12 schools with the most improvement.

The non-waiver graduate rate does not count as graduates certain students, such as those who earned diplomas without passing the state's graduation exams.

Statewide, the non-waiver public school graduation rate was 78 percent in 2010, up from 75 percent for the class of 2009.