Florida Continues Record of Education Excellence for the 2025-2026 School Year

July 2, 2026

FDOE Press Office 850-245-0413 [email protected]

Florida Continues Record of Education Excellence for the 2025-2026 School Year

Tallahassee, Fla., Wednesday, July 2, 2026 - Under Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas' tenure, Florida continued to strengthen its position as the national leader in education, marked by record student achievement, expanded school choice opportunities, historic workforce investments, and a continued focus on student safety, success, and teacher support.

"Florida's progress is not accidental. It is the result of an unwavering focus on students," said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. "I am proud of the accomplishments of Florida's students and schools during my tenure. These results reflect the dedication of our teachers, the commitment of our families, and the belief that every student can succeed."

"Under Commissioner Kamoutsas' leadership, education in Florida has reached unprecedented levels of success," said Ryan Petty, Chair of the State Board of Education "Florida continues to raise the bar with expanded educational opportunities and meaningful investments in our teachers, workforce education, and school safety. I remain committed to ensuring every Florida student has access to a high-quality education that prepares them for lifelong success."

"The accomplishments achieved this year have fundamentally strengthened Florida's education system," said MaryLynn Magar, Vice Chair of the State Board of Education. "From increased student achievement and historic school choice participation to nationally recognized workforce education and civics education, Florida has established a blueprint for educational excellence that will continue to benefit students and families for years to come."

Leading the Nation in Education Excellence

Florida continues to set the standard for education nationwide, earning top rankings across multiple independent measures. Florida ranks #1 on the:

• Education Freedom ranking by the Heritage Foundation for four consecutive years.
• Parent Power! Index by the Center for Education Reform for four years in a row.
• ALEC Index of State Education Freedom: A 50 State Guide to Parental Empowerment and was the only state to receive an A+ rating this year.
• Talent Attraction Scorecard by Lightcast for three consecutive years.
• Higher education state rankings by U.S. News & World Report every year since the rankings began in 2017.

Record-Setting Student Achievement

This year, Florida's students set historic levels of success from graduation rates to assessment results.

• 92.2% graduation rate for the 2024-25 school year with gains across all student populations.
• For the first time, more than 60% of Florida students are performing on or above grade level in both English Language Arts and Mathematics.
  • 61% of students in grades 3-10 scored on or above grade level on the end-of-year ELA progress monitoring assessment, an increase of 4 percentage points from last year.
  • 62% of students in grades 3-8 scored on or above grade level on the end-of-year Mathematics progress monitoring assessment, an increase of 3 percentage points from last year.
• Florida continues to deliver strong academic results while meeting increasingly rigorous accountability standards.
  • 76% of all schools earned an "A" or a "B" school grade in the 2025-2026 school year, compared to 71% in 2024-2025.
  • 60% of all schools maintained an "A" or improved their grade from the prior year.
• Charter schools also continued to demonstrate strong performance.
  • 78% of charter schools earned an "A" or a "B" school grade in the 2025-2026 school year, compared to 76% of traditional public schools.
  • The percentage of charter schools earning an "A" is 13 percentage points higher than the percentage of traditional public schools earning an "A."
  • Of the 607 charter schools with a grade in 2025 and 2026, 68% increased their grade or maintained an "A."
• Florida received an almost perfect score of 97.73% on the U.S. Department of Education's 2026 State Performance Plan/Approval Performance Report for special education. This is Florida's highest score in five years.

Strengthening School Safety

Working alongside Governor DeSantis, more than $3.6 billion has been invested to strengthen mental health and school safety and security. Florida continues to prioritize safe and secure learning environments for all students. This year, Governor DeSantis signed HB 757 into law, strengthening the state's school safety framework and enhancing security across Florida's colleges and universities. During the 2025-26 school year, school safety has been enhanced through the following efforts:

• Implemented the Florida Safety and Threat Management Portal to identify, assess, manage, and monitor threats to schools, school staff and students.
• Launched the Guardian Angel Drone Pilot Program in three school districts to provide real-time audio and video feeds to guardians and law enforcement during potential threats on school campuses.
• Brought together 19 other states and Florida school districts at the second annual National Summit on School Safety to discuss Florida's nationally recognized model for school safety and share best practices.
• Hosted the 5th annual Commissioner's Summit with district school superintendents, college presidents and university presidents focused on safety across campuses.

Expanding School Choice Opportunities

Florida's commitment to educational choice continues to expand access and opportunity for families statewide, ensuring more families can select the learning environment that best meets their children's individual needs. Enrollment in choice programs is at the highest level in the state's history with nearly half of all Florida students participating in school choice.

• More than 530,000 students are utilizing scholarship programs.
• Over 408,000 students are enrolled in public charter schools, the highest enrollment in state history.
• More than 150,000 students participate in home education programs.

Building a Strong Workforce Pipeline

Florida became the #1 state in the nation for workforce education by building a strong talent pipeline that connects students to high-wage, in-demand careers and supports the needs of Florida's growing economy.

• Record-breaking Career and Technical Education enrollment with more than 818,000 K-12 CTE students and nearly 512,000 postsecondary CTE students.
• 19 new CTE programs in key industries such as financial technology, autonomous vehicles, agricultural supply chain, real estate development, and structured work-based learning.
• 137,000+ degrees, certificates, and industry credentials awarded annually through the Florida College System, with average starting salaries for associate and bachelor's degree graduates of $64,732 and $68,569, respectively.
• 25,000+ active apprentices and pre-apprentices currently training for in-demand careers.
• More than 2,200 apprentices completed training last year, earning an average starting wage of $58,058 annually.
• High schools, technical colleges and Florida College System institutions participated in the inaugural Statewide Welding & Fabrication Challenge. The Challenge invited students to design and create original metalwork inspired by the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Empowering and Supporting Teachers

Working with Governor DeSantis, Florida continues to prioritize teacher support and compensation. This year, Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1296 into law, ensuring unions have actual support from the teachers they purport to represent. The signing of Senate Bill 1296, along with continued investments dedicated to increasing teacher pay, reflect a sustained commitment to strengthening the teaching profession:

• More than $7.5 billion invested in teacher pay increases since Governor DeSantis took office with $1.56 billion allocated this year alone.
• Starting salaries for teachers have increased from $40,000 to $50,200 since 2019.
• Facilitated professional learning for over 2,100 educators through the Virtual Literacy Institute and nearly 1,000 literacy coaches attended the first annual Literacy Coach Professional Learning to enhance instruction grounded in the science of reading.

Strengthening Civics Education

Florida continues to invest in civics education, with $162 million dedicated to strengthening instruction statewide.

• These efforts have led to the highest civics and U.S. History results since the assessments were first administered:
  • 76% of students scored on or above grade level in Civics, an increase of 6 percentage points since 2025.
  • 73% of students scored on or above grade level in U.S. History, an increase of 3 percentage points since 2025.
• More than 22,000 teachers have received a $3,000 stipend for completing the Civics Seal of Excellence endorsement, which strengthens content knowledge and enhances the quality of civics instruction in Florida classrooms.
• A record 748 middle and high school students participated in the Florida Civics and Debate State Championship at New College of Florida. This year's championship featured 11 speech and debate categories, including the inaugural Ronald Reagan Presidential Debate. The champion of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Debate received a $50,000 scholarship and became the first recipient of the Charlie Kirk Trophy.
• Florida colleges have more than doubled student success in U.S. History and U.S. Government courses since 2018, with the number of courses passed increasing by 103% to more than 127,500 courses annually.
• Nearly 100 students from Florida College System institutions participated in the inaugural Sunshine State Debate to showcase their mastery of civic discourse and thoughtful persuasion. This year's debate focused on the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding.
• Florida is launching a new FACT U.S. History pilot program to provide an additional acceleration option to students across the state. The FACT U.S. History course builds on the successful pilot of the FACT College Algebra Course, with 32 traditional public and charter schools participating in the pilot.
• 14 students were awarded a college scholarship by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation for participating in the first ever America250FL Art & Essay Contest, which encouraged students to submit original artwork and essays based on the theme "Celebrating Florida's Contributions to America."

Enhancing Early Learning Education

Florida's early learning program provides a strong foundation for success in kindergarten, setting students on a path to learn, graduate and succeed. This year, Governor DeSantis signed House Bill 1279 into law, which expands eligibility for the Summer Bridge program to voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) students that scored below the 25th percentile on the final progress monitoring.

• Over the past 20 years, Florida's free VPK program has served more than 3.1 million children. This year, Florida launched a seamless application process that allows families to apply for VPK and open a Florida Investment 529 Plan account to save for higher education simultaneously. More than 17,000 families have already participated in this partnership.
• Between 2023 and 2025, the percentage of VPK students Kindergarten Ready at the end of VPK increased by 3 percentage points, going from 69% to 72%. This represents approximately 4,500 more children exiting VPK ready for kindergarten.
• There have been steady improvements in the quality of Florida's early learning programs. As of June 1, 2026, the School Readiness program assessment score has increased from 4.43 to 5.30 (since 2019) and the VPK program score increased from 5.08 to 5.38 (since 2023).