Atlanta Graduation Rates At 79 Percent, New State Figures Show

ATLANTA, GA -- New statewide graduation rates released Wednesday show Atlanta public schools' graduation rates at 79.9 percent. In addition, its graduation rate has increased by 20.8 percentage points since 2014 from 59.1 percent in 2014 to 79.9 percent in 2018. This year’s rate represents a 2.9 percentage point gain over last year.

The system's number of on-time graduates hit a new high at 2,438, which is 82 more graduates than the previous year. Notable gains were achieved by students with disabilities, up 5.0 percentage points to 60.5 percent. The graduation rate for African-American students is up 3.7 percentage points to 78.2 percent.

The graduation rate for white students remains high at 95.4 percent, although there was a slight decline (-0.5) compared to last year, and the rate for Hispanic students is 73.0 percent a decrease of 4.6 percentage points from 2017.

Overall, Georgia’s high school graduation rate increased again in 2018, rising to 81.6 percent from 80.6 percent in 2017. State officials said this is an all-time high for Georgia’s graduation rate since the state began using the adjusted cohort calculation now required by federal law. Seventy-four Georgia school districts recorded 2018 graduation rates at or above 90 percent.

Shutterstock