Betsy Hammond

In a school district that enrolls 47,000 students, only 43 percent are poor (in Chicago, 85 percent are) and a majority are white (in Philadelphia, 13 percent are). White and middle-class teens are far less likely to drop out of high school than their minority and low-income peers. But a shockingly low percentage of Portland’s high school students graduate on time: just 53 percent.