the dropout rate here hovers around 32%." However, on Page 3 of the Opinion Section, Max Hull states that in Los Angeles about 42% dropout by high school. The statistics don't quite add up. Your series on "Why Do Students Quit?" is outstanding. Too bad it won't be read by those who need the information the most. As a teacher, taking early retirement, after 23 years of experience in Los Angeles, I think Hull's figures are probably closer to the mark.Latino students are dropping out of high school at such high rates that it has become a statewide crisis, speakers told an Anaheim meeting of about 800 Southern California parents, teachers and school administrators on Thursday. Juan Hurtado, an equal rights official of San Diego State University, which sponsored the conference, said, "Throughout the state, the dropout rate of Chicano students is about 45% to 50% before high school graduation.I agree that California and our nation as a whole have a tremendous problem with high school dropouts, particularly in the black and Hispanic communities (L.A. Schools' Silent Scandal, editorial, March 25). Fortunately, there is something being done to address this crisis. Under the No Child Left Behind law, schools and districts are held accountable for graduation rates, and schools can no longer allow a dropout to be counted as a transfer. Poorly performing students can no longer be nudged out of the system in a misguided effort to raise school averages on tests.The letter to the editor of
