Education in Florida

Are our classroom educators undervalued?
By: Nicholas Regueiro

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” - Brad Henry

Have you ever had an educator inspire you? Educators hold the key to our future because they provide the building blocks for our youth. Our current youth is our future. The next issue to settle is - are educators undervalued?

Before I continue, I want to make clear I am not talking about the bureaucrat making decisions at D.C. I am representing the educators in classrooms that spends long days communicating why addition and subtraction is crucial to a person’s mathematical ability. In Florida, we work with the The Florida Department of Education which is the state education agency of Florida. It governs public education and manages funding and testing for local educational agencies. It is headquartered in the Turlington Building in Tallahassee.
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​Do students, bureaucrats, and parents appreciate the hard work our educators constantly put into improving Florida’s education ranking?

The state of Florida earned 28th place in a study that District of Columbia publishes every year in Education Week. The "Quality Counts" report was published in 2015. Florida was never ranked lower than 11th, and ranked as high as 5th. Educators are not given the appropriate resources to help educate our youth. A student’s future starts in the classroom. A good path to take when improving a school’s overall scores is to incorporate a more interactive learning experience. Funding learning technology in classrooms is pivotal.

​On the opposite side of the education spectrum, Florida got the top ranking in the higher education department because of several championing reasons, including the relatively low tuition rates for colleges and universities. Higher education is accessible to those in need of assistance.  Another factor that helped Florida earn its rank is the fact that students in Florida are more likely to finish degrees within two or three years. Timeliness when completing an education leads to a jump start on a person’s career.

What does all this data tell us?

Our elementary school education is lacking while our higher education is shining.The focus should be on allocating time and funds towards improving elementary school education because that is where a student’s future begins.

Sources:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/report-ranks-florida-as-no-1-state-for-higher-education/2315302
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/florida-usually-a-top-10-finisher-drops-to-28th-in-national-ranking-of/2212959