National report card gives Florida a B-minus
TAMPA (AP) – Even while Florida’s schools struggle financially, a report card issued Wednesday by Education Week magazine shows them making academic progress and ranks the state 10th nationwide.
Florida received an overall grade of B-minus, up from last year’s C-plus. That’s higher than the national average of a C and significantly better than the state performed just two years ago, when it was ranked 31st nationwide.
Education Commissioner Eric Smith said he is “extremely pleased” with Florida’s progress.
“I think what this report says is, in spite of hard times, Florida has the leadership, and Florida has the instructional teaching capacity, to continue to serve our children effectively,” Smith said.
The Quality Counts report graded states in six categories, including school finance, achievement, the teaching profession, and standards, assessments and accountability. Three of those categories used data from the 2008 report.
In the areas where new figures were computed, the report shows a higher percentage of Florida students enrolling in preschool, kindergarten and post-secondary education, even while some economic indicators declined.
The state received high marks for equity in school funding: The difference in per-pupil funding between the highest and lowest-spending districts was $2,200 in 2006, the report states. That’s about half the national average, placing the state second nationwide, an improvement over the previous year.
However, the state ranks among the worst in the nation in school spending. The amount spent per student was more than $1,000 below the national average in 2006. Overall, the state received a C-minus in school finance.
“This is something where, we’ve got a decent plan in place, if only we had the political will to make the investment in our children, we could really be making some major strides forward in public education,” said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association.