LOS ANGELES – More than 24 percent of California public high school students dropped out in the 2006-07 school year, according to figures released Wednesday by the state Department of Education.

The data was compiled from a newly implemented tracking system that issues each student an identifier number. The number enables officials to monitor each student as he or she progresses through school, allowing for a more accurate accounting.

According to the new system that started tracking students in 2002, 67.6 percent of students graduated, 24.2 percent dropped out, and 8.2 percent withdrew – completing high school equivalency diplomas, moving out of state or transferring to private school.

The new data revealed high dropout rates for minority students: 41.3 percent of black students, 31.3 percent of Native Americans, 30.3 percent of Hispanics, and 27.9 percent of Pacific Islanders. White students had a 15.2 percent dropout rate, while Asians had a 10.2 percent rate.

“Twenty-four percent of students dropping out is not good news,” said Superintendent of Education Jack O'Connell. “In fact, any student dropping out is one too many and the data reveal a disturbingly high dropout rate for Latinos and African-Americans.”

Because the numbers are the first using the new computerized tracking system, no real comparison exists with the previous year.

State education officials have been criticized in the past for using self-reported, unaudited data from school districts that resulted in a graduation rate of 85 percent, which critics charged was deliberately inflated in order to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The new numbers paint a more realistic picture of dropouts, but still underestimate the problem, said Alan Bonsteel, president of California Parents for Educational Choice.

He estimates the state's real dropout rate is 33 percent.

The state is downplaying the dropout rate by overestimating student withdrawals – those who transfer, move or earn GEDs normally make up a tiny fraction of enrollment, he said.

The state is also not including middle-school dropouts, which Bonsteel put at 4 percent, to come up with a total dropout rate of 37 percent.

“We're seeing some improvement, but they still missed one third,” Bonsteel said.