Florida
Florida's public school system is the third-largest in the nation and arguably the most politically contested, with sweeping reforms under Governor Ron DeSantis reshaping curriculum, teacher training, library books, and parental rights in education. The state pioneered market-based school accountability — its A-through-F school grading system, introduced in 1999, became a national model. Florida also has one of the country's most expansive private school choice programs: the Family Empowerment Scholarship and the Step Up For Students program together serve hundreds of thousands of students using public and private funds. Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the fourth-largest district in the US. The state's FCAT successor, the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), is being phased into the FAST (Florida Assessment of Student Thinking) program, emphasizing progress monitoring throughout the year.
| District | Schools | Students | Per-Pupil | Grad Rate | Free Lunch | Opp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large Districts — 10,000+ Students | ||||||
| MIAMI-DADE | 514 | 334K | $13,537↑6% | 89.6% | 56.2% | 42 |
| BROWARD | 329 | 255K | $13,387 | 90.8% | 57.7%↑5% | 42 |
| HILLSBOROUGH | 299 | 223K | $11,747↓8% | 89.9% | 51.0%↓7% | 38 |
| ORANGE | 270 | 206K | $12,987 | 92.4%↑5% | 48.7%↓11% | 39 |
| PALM BEACH | 232 | 190K | $14,464↑13% | 90.3% | 51.6%↓6% | 43 |
| DUVAL | 204 | 129K | $11,541↓10% | 91.8% | 51.2%↓7% | 37 |
| POLK | 162 | 113K | $12,028↓6% | 86.7% | 52.1% | 37 |
| LEE | 118 | 99K | $12,577 | 88.0% | 49.6%↓9% | 38 |
| PINELLAS | 153 | 94K | $13,882↑9% | 92.1% | 51.6%↓6% | 41 |
| PASCO | 102 | 84K | $11,709↓8% | 88.3% | 51.3%↓6% | 37 |
| BREVARD | 110 | 74K | $11,592↓9% | 88.9% | 47.2%↓14% | 39 |
| OSCEOLA | 83 | 73K | $10,796↓15% | 90.3% | 53.6% | 40 |
| SEMINOLE | 77 | 67K | $10,225↓20% | 93.4%↑6% | 48.5%↓11% | 47 |
| VOLUSIA | 90 | 63K | $11,697↓8% | 85.7% | 55.0% | 40 |
| MANATEE | 80 | 50K | $13,252 | 85.4% | 53.0% | 42 |
| ST. JOHNS | 54 | 49K | $11,898↓7% | 93.7%↑7% | 17.8%↓68% | 45 |
| COLLIER | 72 | 48K | $15,281↑20% | 91.3% | 48.2%↓12% | 45 |
| LAKE | 60 | 47K | $11,081↓13% | 89.7% | 46.7%↓15% | 37 |
| ST. LUCIE | 52 | 46K | $11,649↓9% | 94.3%↑7% | 67.2%↑23% | 40 |
| SARASOTA | 62 | 45K | $14,758↑16% | 90.3% | 47.9%↓13% | 44 |
| MARION | 60 | 44K | $11,790↓8% | 86.0% | 62.1%↑13% | 38 |
| CLAY | 51 | 39K | $10,722↓16% | 93.5%↑6% | 58.7%↑7% | 37 |
| ESCAMBIA | 69 | 38K | $12,829 | 85.7% | 59.5%↑9% | 37 |
| OKALOOSA | 52 | 33K | $12,274 | 90.9% | 46.3%↓15% | 43 |
| LEON | 56 | 32K | $12,031↓6% | 92.3% | 44.1%↓19% | 36 |
| SANTA ROSA | 41 | 31K | $11,292↓11% | 93.0%↑6% | 42.1%↓23% | 38 |
| ALACHUA | 62 | 29K | $12,950 | 90.8% | 52.6% | 39 |
| BAY | 47 | 27K | $13,336 | 85.2% | 48.6%↓11% | 42 |
| HERNANDO | 32 | 24K | $10,990↓14% | 90.0% | 56.9% | 41 |
| MARTIN | 34 | 19K | $14,399↑13% | 93.1%↑6% | 47.5%↓13% | 37 |
| INDIAN RIVER | 28 | 17K | $12,832 | 88.9% | 56.9% | 40 |
| CHARLOTTE | 25 | 17K | $13,776↑8% | 90.1% | 44.8%↓18% | 36 |
| CITRUS | 28 | 16K | $11,891↓7% | 90.0% | 60.6%↑11% | 38 |
| HENDRY | 15 | 14K | $8,335↓35% | 85.4% | 65.9%↑20% | 36 |
| FLAGLER | 13 | 13K | $11,686↓8% | 89.5% | 55.0% | 38 |
| NASSAU | 21 | 13K | $12,754 | 91.4% | 43.1%↓21% | 42 |
| HIGHLANDS | 23 | 12K | $13,125 | 81.5%↓7% | 69.1%↑26% | 36 |
| WALTON | 23 | 12K | $15,507↑22% | 89.7% | 47.9%↓13% | 43 |
| PUTNAM | 19 | 10K | $11,866↓7% | 84.7% | 64.0%↑17% | 40 |
| Medium Districts — 1,000–9,999 Students | ||||||
| COLUMBIA | 19 | 9,887 | $11,370↓11% | 87.4% | 60.6%↑11% | 37 |
| SUMTER | 12 | 9,404 | $11,984↓6% | 94.2%↑7% | 53.2% | 41 |
| MONROE | 24 | 8,929 | $19,152↑50% | 87.6% | 46.1%↓16% | 43 |
| FL VIRTUAL | 3 | 8,559 | — | 88.0% | 27.6%↓50% | 49 |
| OKEECHOBEE | 13 | 6,398 | $11,469↓10% | 74.2%↓16% | 67.1%↑22% | 41 |
| JACKSON | 19 | 6,076 | $12,730 | 83.8% | 54.6% | 37 |
| SUWANNEE | 13 | 5,935 | $11,415↓10% | 93.5%↑6% | 64.5%↑18% | 37 |
| LEVY | 15 | 5,662 | $14,251↑12% | 86.1% | 67.5%↑23% | 38 |
| WAKULLA | 15 | 5,156 | $10,709↓16% | 91.0% | 42.5%↓22% | — |
| BAKER | 9 | 5,003 | $15,798↑24% | 79.0%↓10% | 51.0%↓7% | 37 |
| HARDEE | 11 | 4,901 | $11,569↓9% | 81.6%↓7% | 73.4%↑34% | 42 |