TRUTH IS ALWAYS A HARD PILL to swallow, which explains why John Barge of Floyd County, the state school superintendent, is warning over and over again that the state’s high-school graduation rates are going to nosedive.

Actually, they’ve never been good but former Gov. Sonny Perdue waltzed out of office bragging how he had raised them to above 80 percent. That’s because he advocated some sort of “new math” unique to Georgia for this purpose that involved finishing 12th grade taking an extra year. Now the national standard must be used and it is based strictly on what the outcome was for ninth-graders some four years later. That’s so a true comparison between Georgia and the other 49 states can be made ... and it may be grim.

Barge is warning to expect a 10 percent plunge. Many education experts fear something more like 15 percent. It could be even worse than that. Education Week puts Georgia’s true graduation rate (in four years) at roughly 58 percent.

Based on last year’s announced local numbers, and figuring only a 10 percent mathematical adjustment, here’s what to expect:

Rome High, was 77 percent, will be 67 percent.

Armuchee High, was 82.5 percent, will be 72.5 percent.

Pepperell High, 81.9 percent, will be 71.9 percent.

Model High, 75.6 percent, will be 65.6 percent.

Coosa High, 70.3 percent, will be 60.3 percent.

Parents, do you know where your students really are in school?