Private schools offer real alternative to educational doldrums.

Only 67% of California high school students graduate, a figure that ranks the state 36th in the nation. Alarmingly, only 29% of students have "College-ready" transcripts in California, a percentage that is better than only five states, and the 50th state, Nevada, is a mere 3 percentage points behind California.

These figures come from "Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States," a study done by the Manhattan Institute. While they paint a gloomy picture, much evidence suggests a better outlook for students of private schools. Three of the San Fernando Valley's prominent private schools, Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, Chaminade High School in West Hills and Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, all boast a much higher percentage of graduates attending college than the state's average.

"From our school, more than 85% of about 400 graduates each year go on to a higher education," says Dr. John C. Monnig, principal of Bishop Alemany. "We have a great reputation with area colleges for preparing students well for the challenges they'll face at a college or university."

Further evidence of the success of private schools comes from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), under the U.S. Department of Education, which tests high school seniors every four years in the areas of science and writing. For the Science Assessment done in the year 2000, the average public school student scored 149 well below the 166 average of private high school students. The 2002 Writing Assessment for NAEP showed similar results: public high school seniors scored 146 on average compared with the private high school seniors' average of 168. While writing scores at public high school have declined from the previous test, private high school scores showed a slight increase, rising from 165 in 1998 to 168 in 2002.

Bishop Alemany High School, according to Dr. Monnig, places a strong emphasis on writing across fine curriculum. "Students at every, grade level are required to do research papers," says Dr. Monnig, "In our English department, juniors wrote two 7-page term papers, and seniors must complete a 10-page term paper. Our students know, above all, that we value academic integrity."

In September, the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges released a report called "Writing: A Ticket to Work ... Or a Ticket Out," which dearly posited a correlation between a person's writing skills and career success. Often, according to the report those "who cannot write and communicate clearly will not De hired, and are unlikely to last long enough to be considered for promotion." The report noted that more than 66% of employees who are salaried are required to perform some writing. "Writing: A Ticket to Work" was a follow up to the April 2003 report "The Neglected 'R': The Need for a Writing Revolution," which found that most students "cannot write well enough to meet the demands they face in higher education and the emerging work environment." This report found that less than 50% of college freshmen can write well argued papers that are relatively error free.

"The Neglected 'R'" also noted that "[d|eveloping critical thinkers and writers should be understood as one of the central works of education." At least at San Fernando Valley private high schools, the curriculum is doing just that.

John Duel is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Wide Awake in Dreamland. He spent five years running workshops for professional and aspiring writers, and now teaches high school English.