Los Angeles Unified is making significant progress in improving its academic achievement and graduation rates, but future gains will be in peril if voters reject a statewide tax hike to fund public schools, Superintendent John Deasy said Monday.

During the annual State of the District speech, Deasy touted the district's record-high graduation rate of 64 percent, the improved proficiency of its English-learners and the growing number of students taking and passing the rigorous college-prep curriculum.

"LAUSD is strong and getting stronger every day," he said during the hour-long speech in the auditorium that formerly housed the Cocoanut Grove Club at the Ambassador Hotel, which has been converted to the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools. "We should review these results and celebrate our successes.

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