Florida’s high school graduation rate hit a record high last year, with nearly 90% of the class of 2024 earning a diploma, the Florida Department of Education announced late Thursday, though the statistic comes with an asterisk.
The state’s graduation rate of 89.7% was its best ever — not counting the two COVID-19 pandemic years when Florida dropped testing requirements that made it easier for more students to earn diplomas. For that reason, the classes of 2020 and 2021 had higher graduation rate’s than last year’s.
But if those inflated rates, at 90% and 90.1%, are ignored, the class of 2024 posted the best graduation rate ever, topping the 86.9% from the class of 2019, state officials said…