LAKELAND, Fla. – At a news conference Friday in Lakeland, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated what he called historic student performance results in testing from the previous school year.
The governor announced that more than 60% of Florida students are now performing at or above grade level in both English language arts and mathematics — a first for the state.
“This is a record for our state,” DeSantis said. “When we started this, 49% of students scored at or above grade level in English language arts progress monitoring assessment. That number has now increased to 61%.”
The milestone marks the first time student proficiency has reached this level
It’s the first time since Florida abolished the old Florida Standards Assessment exams in 2022 that student proficiency has reached this level.
Rather than a single end-of-year test, students take progress-monitoring assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of each school year.
Record gains in reading, math
DeSantis said the jump in English language arts scores represents more than 150,000 additional students now meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations.
Math scores showed similar improvement. According to DeSantis, 53% of students scored at or above grade level in 2023. That number has since climbed to 62% — a nine-percentage-point increase representing roughly 115,000 more students performing at grade level.
“I think this was the right way to go,” DeSantis said of the shift to progress-monitoring assessments. “I believed in it. It made sense that it’d be good for students, and now we’re seeing this is really paying off.”
DeSantis credited teachers and school staff across the state for driving the results, saying the success belongs to “the people who are actually on the ground doing this every day throughout schools all over Florida.”
Budget boosts per-pupil spending, teacher pay
DeSantis also previewed key education investments included in the budget he is set to sign by July 1.
Per-pupil funding through the Florida Education Finance Program, or FEFP, will reach approximately $9,400 — an increase of $150 — up from roughly $7,000 to $7,500 when DeSantis took office.
Total education funding now stands at approximately $30 billion, compared to an estimated $21 billion to $22 billion when DeSantis first entered office. Base student allocation is also up $85 per student.
Among the headline investments is a $200 million increase targeting experienced teachers — those who have been in the classroom for 10 or more years.
“That’ll make a big difference,” DeSantis said, adding that school districts have the option to supplement that funding. “We’re just saying it’s not a great teacher salary — the $200 million has to go — but certainly that, for the 10-plus-year teachers, if you want to kick in more money to get them more money, by all means.”