New York City has one of the lowest graduation rates for black males of any city, according to a new report by the Cambridge-based Schott Foundation for Publc Education. Only 28 percent of the city's black males graduated on time with Regents diplomas in 2008 compared to 50 percent of white males. That's a gap of 22 points.

The study also found New York had the lowest graduation rate of all states for black males, with just 25 percent earning Regents diplomas on time compared to 68 percent of white males. Nationally, 47 percent of black males graduated on time in 2008.

Dr. John Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation, says the numbers are significant because of New York's size.

"New York City enrolls the largest number of black males, so when you consider the number lost each year it's going to be much more than in most cities," he says.

Other cities also had big gaps. In Dade County, Florida, 27 percent of black males graduated on time in 2008 compared to 56 percent of white males, a difference of 29 points. The gap in Buffalo was 30 points. And the gaps varied tremendously among states with black males graduating at higher rates than white males in Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Vermont.

However, each state has different graduation requirements. And the study only looked at New York graduates earning Regents diplomas, which require students to pass five exams. It did not include students earning the less rigorous local diplomas. Had it done so, the city's graduation rates would have been much higher, says New York City's Deputy Chancellor Shael Polakow-Suransky. Instead of 28 percent of black males earning diplomas in 2008, he says, the total number would have been 43 percent, which is closer to the national average. But Jackson, of the Schott Foundation, says his study focused on diplomas preferred by colleges "and by far, the Regents diploma in New York State is that diploma."

Deputy Chancellor Suransky concedes New York City has a long way to go. However, he insists the achievement gap has been closing. He says more than 50 percent of black students graduated high school last year, compared to about 31 percent in 2005. And he says the number of students earning the more rigorous Regents diplomas has also increased.

"If you look at the rate of gain that we're seeing for our black students versus our white students over that same period we've closed the gap by about five points and we're still not done," he says.

New Jersey had one of the higher graduation rates in the study, with 69 percent of black males graduating on time compared to 90 percent of white males. Jackson of the Schott Foundation concedes the state is wealthier on average than New York but he believes a decision to equalize state funding may have played a role. But money alone isn't the answer, he says, noting that fixing the gap will take high quality early childhood education and highly effective teachers. "If we believe that education is a civil right, and it is, then every state has to find and put in place the policy solutions for providing an opportunity to learn for all of their students."