Why do Florida school rate so poorly?

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by mysticpearl

How did you not see you were missing it? Everyone else can.

This was your addition to this thread? Unreal.

[EastCoasterly]

I've been doing a lot of research on this question as we are looking to relocate from Massachusetts, which is perceived to have some of the best schools in the country to SJC. Florida is actually high ranking in the nation in terms of student achievement (top ten states). It is also high ranking in terms of how minority children perform relative to caucasian children. Finally, it is the best in the country when you look at what Florida spends (2-3 times less than Massachusetts per child) for these achievement results.

[Scottamemnon]

Originally Posted by EastCoasterly

I've been doing a lot of research on this question as we are looking to relocate from Massachusetts, which is perceived to have some of the best schools in the country to SJC. Florida is actually high ranking in the nation in terms of student achievement (top ten states). It is also high ranking in terms of how minority children perform relative to caucasian children. Finally, it is the best in the country when you look at what Florida spends (2-3 times less than Massachusetts per child) for these achievement results.

We came from Massachusetts and found it to be a mixed bag. For our then 2nd grader, we had to play catch up here in Duval county. She was behind on math and language. The sight word madness from Massachusetts did not prepare her for a more traditional phonics based language class. Math felt about 6 months ahead. Thankfully she is a good student and managed to get good grades and catch up quickly.

There is a lot less hand holding of students here though, so parent involvement is a lot more important in Florida.

[EastCoasterly]

Thanks for your reply. I have been very involved with my son's reading development. It's been a few hours a day and he is doing well here in MA. Kids get pulled for support if they aren't at grade level or above here. We are in one of the better school districts in MA, though. Many of his first grade peers were at a 4th or 5th grade reading or math level as almost all of the families here do Kumon or Russian School of Math, etc. I've heard very good things about PVB schools and I'm sure there will be many areas where we will be challenged. Do parents do the after school drill school BS there, too?

[Bamaman1]

Chances are if any school has poor academics it's because the people that live in that district are "service" related people.

Florida has a huge population of maids and landscaping workers--as well as agricultural workers.

It's a social issue in many cases. If kids come from such parents, they more often don't place academics as a priority.

[Koby]

I’m still reading the replies, I appreciate the input!

[Florida2014]

If you go to the main Florida forum, you'll get a better understanding of the lack of education in our state. Trust me.