Even though school dropout numbers are improved, the reporting still is designed to mislead the public. The actual dropout rate is much higher than the number reported in The Pilot's Feb. 8 article.

If the number of dropouts is 172 and the dropout rate is 4.29 percent, the total population being considered is 4,009. In reality, most dropouts occur between 10th and 11th grade, out of a single class of about 1,000. The actual dropout rate, then, is more like 17 percent.

The county pays great attention to unemployment when the focus should be on the unemployable.

Max Stanton

Pinehurst