Nearly half of Camden’s graduates get diplomas by appeal

The school district in Camden says that nearly half the students who graduate from the city’s public schools are doing it through an appeals process rather than by passing state tests.

The Courier-Post reports 48 percent of the students at the city’s five public schools graduated through the appeals process.

While the number is high, it was lower than 2012, when it was 64 percent.

The state does not track the number of graduates who graduate that way, but officials say Camden’s figure appears to be far higher than other districts.

Fewer than one-third of Camden grads earn diplomas through passing the standard state test.

The state government took control of the school district two years ago in a city that ranks among the most impoverished in the country.