OUR VIEW: TCSS graduation rates show improvement

Published 11:00 am Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Georgia Department of Education released graduation numbers earlier this week, and Troup County’s numbers were above state average and continuing to climb.

The Troup County School System is graduating 86.6 percent of its students, which is well above the state average of 82 percent. Callaway High School and LaGrange High School saw their rates climb again, and Troup High School continued to pace the county with an 87.2 percent rate.

There was a time not too long ago when the TCSS graduation rate lagged behind the state average, with scores in the high 60s and low 70s, so the improvement over the last five to ten years is incredible.

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Obviously, no one will be completely satisfied until that rate is in the high 90s, and there’s always hope that every single student will graduate from high school. Both of those are lofty goals, but it’s clear TCSS is on the path to get there.

Most school systems, including ours, receive a lot more criticism than public praise. Sure, there is work to do on college and career readiness and reading scores, something administrators, the school board and superintendent are well aware of.

However, the graduation numbers prove that something is working in the classroom. Students are getting to their destination, earning a diploma and setting themselves up for college or a career. That’s an important achievement, and it’s a win worth celebrating for TCSS.