Report: Cities have low H.S. graduation rates

Staff and Wire Reports 

Washington -- Some of the nation's largest cities, including Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, are getting failing grades when it comes to high school graduation rates.

A new report by the nonprofit America's Promise Alliance finds only about half the students in some urban areas are gaining a diploma. The report lists out the graduation rates for the top 50 cities in the nation.

In Detroit, only a quarter of the students in the public schools system makes it to graduation. Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa are also towards the bottom of the list.

Oklahoma City schools graduated 47.5 percent of high schoolers, while Tulsa barely topped 50 percent. 

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is the founding chairman of the alliance. He called it a "catastrophe" when more than one million students a year drop out of high school.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is slated to announce plans Tuesday to hold summits in every state to help get students better prepared to attend college and perform in the work force.