Fewer students are dropping out of Spokane-area schools, and taxpayers didn't have to spend an extra $30 million to make it happen.

Spokane Public Schools says its on-time graduation rate improved by almost 8% in 2010.That means the district's graduation rate increased to 70%.

Other Spokane-area school districts saw similar improvements, including East Valley, which saw its graduation rate improve an astounding 27%.

Last year, advocates tried to pass a property tax increase to create a Children’s Investment Fund. They said an additional $30 million was needed over the next six years to improve Spokane's dropout problem. The measure failed by a 35-65% margin, and yet the graduation and dropout numbers are improving. How could this be?

Washington Policy Center published an analysis of the Children's Investment Fund last fall, pointing out many shortcomings of the proposal:

• Spokane-area dropout numbers are "difficult to assess." Even Spokane Public Schools officials, at the time, said they did not have an accurate way to tabulate the exact scope of the problem
• Similar programs in other cities have not worked to lower the dropout rate
• Reducing the dropout rate requires a focus on the classroom
• The dropout rate would likely not change as a result of additional taxes

One of our main points was that just because a student doesn't graduate, does not mean they dropped out of school. For pointing that out, WPC was accused of 'skewing the numbers' by advocates of the Children's Investment Fund.

Fast-forward to today, when local school officials reported a major uptick in the numbers. They credit "an increased effort" in tracking students who have left the district. The Spokesman-Review newspaper quotes Superintendent Nancy Stowell as saying "...simply finding out where students go once they leave the district, made the difference in the on-time graduation rate for 2010."

We also pointed to research showing the number one way to reduce the drop out problem was to focus on the classroom. Local school officials now say "matching teachers with struggling freshmen and sophomores, and pairing older students with younger students" was one of the main factors in the improving numbers.  The latest data shows our analysis was correct and that tax-increase advocates were wrong.

In their first attempt at passing the Children's Investment Fund, advocates promised it would lower the dropout rate by 20% in the first six years. When they return with another ballot measure, they'll have a difficult time explaining why Spokane's numbers have already improved dramatically, despite the rejection of new taxes and new programs.