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It’s not a surprise to anyone at this point that the COVID-19 pandemic had an adverse effect on education as it did with most things.

As education shifted to an online format, it forced a change to the way we viewed education and how we delivered education. But just like there is no denying that education was affected, that reverberation echoed down the line to graduation.

Graduation rates inevitably slipped as schools attempted to navigate the rigors of online schooling and remote education.

Austin High School was able to maintain a steady grad rate of around 83% for both of 2020 to 2021, however, that rate dropped nearly 10% in 2022 to 75.2% and like many schools, the district has been trying to build back ever since.

That’s why this year’s announcement that overall in the state, grad rates this were the highest ever recorded at 84.2% marks a significant moment in the continued work to increase grad rates.

AHS, for all intents and purposes, stayed for the most part level with numbers revealing not even a full percentage point slip. Sometimes staying even is an optimistic step forward.

In particular, AHS saw significant increases in three key areas within the district:

• Special Education students, up 12.3% (from 55.8% to 68.1%)

• Asian students, up 4.2% (72.5% to 76.7%)

•White students, up 0.7% (84.0% to 84.7%)

It’s short-sighted to consider any problem like this 100% fixed and it should be accepted by all teachers and administrations that there is always room for improvement, but we also have to celebrate the wins when they come.

This is especially true while standing in the face of headwinds caused by the federal government threatening to dissolve the United States Department of Education, which could send cascading waves through education.

To give you an idea, numbers released by the MDE show some of the funding that’s threatened:

• $256 million for students with disabilities

• $192 million for students from low-income backgrounds

• $27 million for academic enrichment

• $6 million for students in rural schools

• $38 million to support children living on military bases or Native American reservations

• $100 million for Career and Technical Education workforce development programs

Education is one thing we should never stop striving for more of and the momentum resulting from the recent graduation numbers should be a cause to continue reevaluating the steps to come and how we can improve education.

These numbers don’t just represent a singular moment in time, but rather demonstrate a continued progression for years to come. It’s not simply something we maintain anymore. Every year is a chance to get better.

We owe that to our students.