JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis was in Jacksonville touting record-high public school graduation rates Friday.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
The Governor attributed the success to expanded school choice options, but the state’s largest teachers’ union isn’t buying that narrative.
With an 89.7 percent graduation rate, Florida logged the highest public school graduation rate in state history last school year.
That’s excluding the two school years during peak COVID, when testing requirements were waived and artificially drove up graduation rates.
The Governor attributed the success to the implementation of policies like universal private school scholarships and the expansion of public charters and home schooling.
“We’ve got close to 1.5 million students in various choice programs throughout Florida,” said DeSantis.
But Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association, doesn’t buy what the Governor is selling.
“Every time he calls a press conference to try to say that charter schools are doing better than public schools or more kids are enrolled in vouchers than ever before, every time he does that it makes me think, why is he having to do this all the time?” said Spar.
One choice option in particular seems to be lagging behind traditional public schools, at least here in Duval County.
The county’s six charter schools that reported last school year averaged a 79.6 percent graduation rate.
Meanwhile, the 33 traditional public schools in the county that reported, averaged an 85 percent graduation rate.
“At the end of the day, our public schools, despite all the challenges we have faced with this Governor, our public schools are still the best place for students to learn,” said Spar.
Still, the Governor pointed to the overall trend, which has seen graduation rates steadily increase as more choice options have come online.
“The debate about school choice, I think, is over. You’re better-offering choice than not offering choice,” said DeSantis.
The graduation stats do not include homeschooling or private schools.
Spar argued if state leaders want to prove their point, they should increase reporting requirements on those choice options, so a direct comparison could be made.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
