Problem: According to The Washington Post, the United States' high-school dropout rate has been steadily declining in recent decades. The dropout rate in 2009 was 24.5%, down from 2001 when the dropout rate was 28%. Researchers have found that graduation rates vary by race, with 91.8 of Asian students graduating from high school on time, 82% of whites, 65.9% of Hispanics and 63.5% of African-Americans. While many states are making progress, California is among the few who are reporting even worse graduation rates in 2009 compared with 2002