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Every weekday I’m scouring the news for the noteworthy education headlines of the day. Food for thought today: Hawaii is named one of 25 high school “dropout epicenters” nationwide, a study shows firing poorly performing teachers and paying high performers extra to work harder could be effective school reform and Hawaii school principals name their top three reform priorities.

• Education Week published a this morning on graduation rates, their trends and what it all means. Some highlights:

Hawaii is one of the “dropout epicenters” — 25 school districts that together account for one-fifth of all high school dropouts. The Hawaii statewide district is responsible for 5,731 dropouts.

This state’s projected dropout rate for this year amounts to a loss of 32 students per day.

Hawaii’s graduation rate has improved by 6.7 percent over a 10-year period — more than twice the nationwide improvement of 3.1 percent. Only five other states outperformed Hawaii. (For a firsthand look at graduation in Hawaii, don’t forget to check out Civil Beat’s .)

• The National Council on Teacher Quality published a study concluding that if school administrators could fire teachers who perform poorly and make the rest work harder, they . From The Baltimore Sun today.

• Several Hawaii school principals shared with The Honolulu Star-Advertiser their : student achievement, visionary leadership and effective communication.

• College professors on the tenure track are these days than their non-tenure and tenured counterparts, Inside Higher Ed reported today.

• profiled Sober College, a drug rehab center that helps college students get back on track.

• The L.A. Unified school district needed just 203,000 affirmative votes in order to pass a tax measure that could have alleviated school budget woes for 618,000 students. , The LA Times reported. Maybe they are hoping for a federal tax increase instead?

• Education Next it uses to determine how states rank in a recent reading and math proficiency report.

• How’s this for resourceful? When their university library started closing early to save money, a group of Cal State L.A. students , The LA Times reported today.

What are your thoughts on these and other education issues? Share them in our ongoing education discussion. To read more education news throughout the day, follow me on Twitter: .