Florida again No. 3 in America in K-12 achievement

Florida, a national leader in education choice, ranks No. 3 in K-12 achievement for a second year in a row, trailing only Massachusetts and New Jersey, according to the latest rankings report from Education Week.

This shouldn’t be a surprise.

For one thing, Education Week based most of its 2021 rankings on the same achievement data it used last year, with updates only for graduation rates and Advanced Placement results.

For another, Florida has been killing it in the “K-12 Achievement” rankings for more than a decade.

Since 2009, Florida has ranked No. 7, No. 7, No. 6, No. 12, No. 12, No. 7, No. 7, No. 11, No. 11, No. 4, No. 4, No. 3 and No. 3.

Not a bad run, no?

I do feel like a broken record pointing this out. But as long as opponents of education choice continue to play their own broken record, it seems appropriate. (Remember, this year’s expansion of choice in Florida was “the death knell for public education.”)

It also seems appropriate to keep noting Florida continues to rock the Education Week rankings despite having:

• The highest percentage of low-income students of any state in the Top 10. (Florida is No. 13 of 50 states. Massachusetts is No. 40. New Jersey is No. 44.)
• The second-lowest spending of any state in the Top 10. (Florida is No. 42. Utah is No. 50. Massachusetts is No. 6. New Jersey is No. 3.)

Here are the top 10 states in terms of achievement according to this year’s Quality Counts report, based on three measures, Status, Change and Equity, explained in detail in the report.