Mayor announces record-high graduation rates across city

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday announced record-high graduation rates across New York City.
"For a long time, the kind of education you got, the quality education was determined by zip code," de Blasio said.
In an effort to even the playing field, de Blasio and city schools Chancellor Carmen Farina released the Equity and Excellence for All plan in fall 2015. Making college-advancement courses and computer technology available in every school in the city are among some of initiatives of the plan.
"I'm happy to tell you that this is a great day for New York City because this vision of Equity and Excellence is becoming a reality," de Blasio said. "More kids in New York City graduated high school in four years than ever before."
In the Bronx, the graduation rate was up to 66.3 percent, an 8.8 percent increase since 2013.
The mayor was happy to announce that South Bronx Preparatory saw some of the high number of graduation rates at 96 percent.
While graduation rates are up, dropout rates are at an all-time low citywide, and more high school seniors are going to college -- about 57 percent of the class of 2016, according to de Blasio.
The goal of Equity and Excellence for All is to have graduation rates rise to 80 percent by 2026.