A new report by the state shows good news for Georgia's schools.

The report shows 86 percent of Georgia's public schools made AYP, a critical benchmark of the No Child Left Behind Act. It's a seven point jump over last year.

And Georgia's high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, nearly 79 percent. That's a 15 percent increase since 2003.

Dana Tofig, a spokesman with a department of education, says he was thrilled to find out about the new numbers.

"Increasing the graduation rate in Georgia is the number one goal for education."

However, some independent education organizations, such as the publication Education Week, say the graduation numbers are likely inflated.

Federal mandates requires that Georgia soon change to a different system of calculating graduation rates. When some other states have made the switch, their graduation rates decreased.

Tags: education, high school, AYP, numbers, graduation rates