Private firms have a place in public education after all. From PubDef:

Dr. Martin said that SLPS has evidence that the district has met the sixth standard, a measure of the percentage of high school graduates that go on to college.

Martin said the district contracted with a private firm, for a fee of just $450 per high school, which tracked down recent graduates and confirmed their enrollment in institutes of higher learning.

It is now up to the state board to accept this new data, or instead ignore it and move on with stripping the district of its provisional accreditation.

Notice how efficiently the private firm was able to provide this service. There are 17 high schools in the district. So the firm must have been paid $7,650–just $39.03 per administrator employed by the Saint Louis Public Schools.

The question we should be asking is: How many of those kids in college have to take remedial courses?