Education Week recently released its annual Quality Counts report. The report takes a look into each state’s performance in public education. Florida finished 29th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with an overall score of 72.5 out of 100 points and a grade of C in the 2017 report. The sunshine state received a grade of C and inched up one slot from 2016.
Florida highlights from the 2017 Quality Counts Report include:
- Low ranking on school spending. The state’s 2014 per-pupil-expenditure was $9,585 compared to a national average of $12,156. As such Florida received an F on the spending portion of the School Finance index, compared to a national average of D.
- Florida received an A- on the equity portion (e.g., disparity in spending across school districts) of the School Finance index, ranking first in the nation.
- Florida student achievement gains on the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments in 4th grade reading, 4th grade math, and 8th grade reading are some of the greatest in the nation (from 2003-2015).
Also noteworthy, Florida made significant strides in decreasing achievement gaps on NAEP between low-income students and their more affluent peers. Nationally, the sunshine state ranked third in closing poverty achievement gaps.
According to Noah Berger and Peter Fishers A Well-Educated Workforce Is Key to State Prosperity research: “Overwhelmingly, high-wage states are states with a well-educated workforce. There is a clear and strong correlation between the educational attainment of a state’s workforce and median wages in the state.” So while Florida mirrors the nation performance in education, there is more work to be done.
Click here to access the Florida Quality Counts report
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