Georgia's rising public high school graduation rate hit a record in 2023. The state Department of Education says Tuesday that 84.4% of seniors graduated on time in the spring, up from 84.1% last year.

Public school students across the state increased their average math score from 511 to 531 over last year’s class, and evidence-based reading and writing went from 532 to 546. Overall, the average Georgia student’s SAT score was 1077, 39 points higher than the national average.

In this afternoon Latin class at Cristo Rey Atlanta’s downtown building, 20 uniformed teenagers recite words illuminated on the wall by an overhead...