Buttressing former Gov. Jeb Bush's claims, a new annual report by Education Week gives high marks to Florida's public schools.
The "Quality Counts" survey, released Tuesday, ranked Florida No. 5 in the nation on a variety of indicators, ranging from student achievement to teacher professionalism to school finance.
Maryland was rated No. 1 for the third straight year, followed by New York, Massachusetts and Virginia.
The Sunshine State's glossy report card reflected solid scores in K-12 achievement (No. 6), standards and accountability (No. 5) and teaching profession (No. 4).
Florida's worst rating came in school finance, where it placed 31st.
The lowest-ranked states overall were Nebraska (51), District of Columbia (50), South Dakota (49) and Mississippi (48).
Florida's gaudy teaching score bested other states with better-paid teachers, such as Connecticut, which has the highest instructor salaries in the nation but ranked 40th on that indicator in the Quality Counts Report Card.
Education Week explains that its "teaching profession" scores do not factor in salaries, but focus instead on tying teacher and pupil performance. The report listed Florida as just one of seven states that both link teacher records to student data that include state-assessment results and "tie teacher evaluation in some way to student performance."
The report's findings supported the contention by Bush and other reformers that higher per-pupil spending doesn't necessarily produce better schools. By implementing FCAT exams, halting social promotion in the third grade and rewarding high-performing schools, Florida has been recognized as a leader in scholastic reform.
Florida's fifth-place ranking on the 2011 survey showed continued improvement by the state's public schools, which rated eighth in the 2010 edition, 10th in 2009 and 14th in 2008.
Still, Florida's report card wasn't all positive. The state scored a mediocre 75.8 on an index called "Providing Opportunities to Succeed." The national average was 78.3.
"Providing Opportunities to Succeed" weighed 13 indicators, including preparation in early childhood, performance of public schools, and educational and economic outcomes in adulthood.
In each case, Florida lagged in ratings that measured current conditions while scoring highest in areas that measured "improvement over time."
The state also was credited with narrowing the achievement gap between poor and non-poor students -- a key indicator in a state where minorities constitute a majority of public-school students.
Nationally, the Education Week analysts noted that while school reform has been spotty, the stakes for the country have never been higher
"Although economists have officially declared the 'Great Recession' to be over, the nation and states continue to struggle back from the most severe economic downturn in generations and face new challenges in delivering a high-quality education to all students," the researchers said.
"If the turbulence and waves of hardship brought by the recession have taught us anything, its that America will sink or swim in a global economy based on its success educating all of its citizens, not just a privileged few, to high standards, said Christopher B. Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in
Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week.
In an op-ed column this week, Bush called public education a crucial cog in the conservative cause.
"A center-right agenda means instituting real education reforms that reward outstanding teachers and empower parents with choices if their children are trapped in a failing school," he wrote.
In an earlier op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Bush touted his education initiatives as the basis for Florida's improved academic performance. In the article, he reported: "1998, nearly half of [Florida's] fourth-graders were functionally illiterate. Today, 72 percent of them can read."
Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association, called the Quality Counts report "good news."
"While it was disappointing that the financial analysis was lower than anything else, it was a positive that the teaching profession ranking was good," he said.
Pudlow credited reforms instituted over the last decade, including class-size reduction, "which made class management easier and helped provide a little more individual attention."
No state earned an "A" grade on the Quality Counts Report Card this year. Florida received a B-minus.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
