CPS admits graduation rate is overstated

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - The Chicago Public School system has said it has made big gains in its graduation rates. But it turns out, those graduation rates are not as good as advertised.

During Mayor Emanuel's re-election campaign, he touted that the number of CPS students finishing high school was rising. But an announcement from CPS Thursday confirmed that is not actually true. 

An investigation by the Better Government Association found that thousands of CPS students were being counted as transfers, when they should have actually been counted as dropouts. The report by the BGA explained that transfers are not factored into the graduation rate, but dropouts are. 

CPS previously reported that 69.4 percent of students who started high school in 2009 graduated by summer 2014, according to a report from the Chicago Sun Times. 

But it turns out, that graduation percentage is actually only 66.3 percent. 

CPS has yet to release the school-by-school graduation numbers for 2015. But, Mayor Emanuel has said that he aims to get the graduation rate up to 85 percent. 

Click play above for more on this story from FOX 32's Joanie Lum.