The Heritage Foundation released its top states for the Education Freedom Report Card. For the third straight year, Florida ranked first overall.
The state received top marks on prioritizing freedom in education, which included parental rights in education, education over indoctrination, and universal school choice for every student,
The report showed the vast number of choices parents had among private, charter, home, and district schools, and the states have K–12 Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) that all families can use to customize the education of eligible students.
Florida also received a top ranking with academic transparency.
In 2022, state lawmakers wanted to focus on learning and set aside items like critical race theory. Education officials told Florida Daily they were hearing from parents concerned about some topics being taught their knowledge. This brought on the Parents’ Bill of Rights. Legislation that allows parents and taxpayers to review classroom assignments before educators use them as part of K–12 instruction.
Parent groups applauded the bill because it required local schools to be more transparent about what was being taught.
On teachers, the Heritage Foundation ranked Florida #2, because it allowed teachers and students to pursue education largely devoid of red tape.
The report notes that almost 50% of Florida teachers are alternatively certified. This puts them in the K–12 classroom through a means other than a traditional university-based college of education.
The state has full reciprocity of teacher licensure, allowing anyone with a valid teaching license from another state to teach in Florida or anyone who holds a certificate issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
On elimination barriers, educators in Florida are also not required to take the Praxis test, a teacher certification exam administered by the Educational Testing Service.
The report gave Florida lower scores on education spending, ranking them at #8 on return on investment. Florida spends the 48th-most (meaning the third-least) per pupil among states, spending $12,108 in cost-of-living-adjusted terms annually.
Though the state did well, Heritage pointed out areas for improvement. Florida’s unfunded teacher pension liability represents 2.9 percent of its state GDP. By limiting the growth in non-teaching staff and continuing to lower its unfunded teacher pension liabilities, Florida can improve its ROI ranking.
Fifty-one percent of Florida’s school districts with more than 15,000 students employ a “Chief Diversity Officer.”
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