When pushing their case for greater school choice for K-12 students in Mississippi, proponents like to point to Florida as an example of what to expect.
That fellow Southeastern state has embraced school choice — from private school vouchers to open enrollment — to a degree unrivaled in the rest of the country. So the argument goes that what works in Florida should work elsewhere.
But does it really work?
School choice proponents frequently cite the evaluation of U.S. News & World Report, which for two years running has ranked Florida as the top state for education.
That is indeed impressive, but it’s not the entire picture. For one thing, the U.S. News ranking is heavily based on the academic performance of students in college. Although one might conclude that if the colleges and universities in a state are turning out better-than-average graduates, then certainly its K-12 schools must be doing a lot right, too.
Until recently, that would have been a reasonable assumption. The latest scores, however, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, might question that assumption, or they might be a possible harbinger of a coming decline in Florida’s higher education metrics.
The NAEP tests are the most objective gauge of how America’s schools are doing. Unlike state tests, which can be skewed by how high a bar an individual state sets for its students, the NAEP compares students across the nation, all of whom take the same test and are scored the same. It’s commonly referred to as the “nation’s report card.”
The tests are given every other year to a statistically valid sampling of public school students. For 2024, the results just released, Florida experienced a precipitous drop, hitting its lowest point in at least two decades in fourth grade and eighth grade reading as well as eighth grade math.
Meanwhile, scores in Mississippi, where choice is much more limited, are on the rise. In fact, Mississippi’s average score is now equal to or better than Florida’s in all but fourth grade math, where it’s just a few points behind.
Manny Diaz, Florida’s education commissioner, said the NAEP results are not a fair reflection of that state’s academic standing in part because only students in public schools are tested. That leaves out the thousands of students who have taken advantage of the scholarships Florida offers that have allowed them to enroll in private schools instead.
Remember, though, that school choice proponents have claimed that public schools will also improve under a robust choice program because of the competition they will face for students. Florida’s test results certainly don’t substantiate that claim.
Maybe the NAEP drop in Florida is unrelated to using taxpayer money to make it easier for families to attend private schools, or setting up a wide-open transfer system that concentrates the best students in the same public schools.
But if you throw that evidence out, the U.S. News rankings should go in the trashcan, too — as well as all the other conflicting studies of whether choice really improves education results or is mostly just a giveaway for those who can already afford private schools.
The Mississippi Legislature is debating heavily this year whether to follow Florida’s lead, but it’s meeting so far with bipartisan skepticism. The hesitation appears justified.
