Balmy, geographically diverse Georgia has many excellent school districts to support its rapidly growing population. Like Florida, its neighbor to the south, Georgia school districts are mainly comprised of all the schools within a particular county, resulting in large districts with high enrollment figures and hundreds of teachers.

Georgia’s best school district is Forsyth County Schools, located in Cumming, GA. Totaling 36 schools in all, the district is the largest employer in the county, with a surplus of 4000 full-time employees and 1500 part-time substitutes. FCS’s academic achievements are considerable: the district boasts the highest SAT score, financial efficiency rating, and the highest graduation rate in metro-Atlanta.

Second ranked Jefferson City School District, serving Jefferson and other communities in Jackson County, is a comparatively smaller district, yet its Jefferson High School ranked in the top three statewide in student achievement.

City Schools of Decatur places third in the list. A charter school district of nine total schools; CSD students regularly achieve above average marks on standardized tests at all levels.

Fourth place Oconee County School District has achieved a number of accolades in recent years, including being one of just three systems in Georgia to receive a 5/5 financial efficiency rating.

Closing out the top five is the Fayette County School System, a large system comprised of 27 schools and several specialized learning centers.

Methodology

The following contributed to the ranking: student performance (math and reading test scores), dropout rates, school funding, and area poverty rates. Data was collected from a total of 9,577 school districts.

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