State Education Commissioner Richard Mills yesterday unveiled data showing a wide achievement gap between racial and ethnic groups, with white and Asian high school students having much more success than black and Hispanic students. Statewide, 81 percent of white students and 69 percent of Asian students who entered ninth grade in 2000 had graduated by June 2004. That compares to 42 percent of Hispanic students and 45 percent of black students. The data also revealed that 12 percent of those ninth-graders had dropped out, including 21 percent of Hispanics, 19 percent of blacks, 11 percent of Asians, and 7 percent of whites, with the rest still enrolled or in GED programs. "This is the picture of the gap in student achievement, and that gap has to close," Mills said. [more]