State’s High School Graduation Rate Inches Up
Graduation cap and textbooks
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State data show more Georgia high school students are earning diplomas. Last year, about 69% of high school seniors graduated, compared to about 67% the year before. 
For the second consecutive year, the U.S. Education Department has required states to use a standard formula to calculate high school graduation rates. The results were mixed in metro Atlanta. The DeKalb County schools’ rate fell about a point to about 57%. But spokesperson Lillian Govus says some DeKalb schools with underprivileged populations made gains.
“Are we satisfied?” Govus asks, “Absolutely not. We want to make sure that our students are prepared when they graduate to enter the career or go to the college of their choice so we’ve got to get them there. But we are pleased with some of the successes that we saw this year.”
The federal calculation only includes students who graduate in four years. Students who move and can’t be tracked are counted as dropouts. Even though the Clayton County schools saw its rate increase about two points to 53.6%, spokesperson David Waller says accounting for every student is challenging.
“We’re a very transient community,” he says, “[We have] a lot of apartments, a lot of temporary housing, we have even a very high number of homeless students.”
Other metro Atlanta districts that increased their graduation rates include the Cobb, Gwinnett, and Fulton County schools and Marietta City Schools.
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