Rates still ‘appalling’ to education reformers Public schools in Montgomery and Fairfax counties led the nation’s 50 largest districts in a recent estimate of graduation rates, even as just over 80 percent of students earned a diploma.

Montgomery topped the 50 largest school systems with 83.1 percent of students graduating in 2007, the most recent year for which national data is available. Fairfax earned a close second with 82.5 percent.