Florida

Copyright © 2013 SAGE Publications. Not for sale, reproduction, or distribution.

Florida

Statistics Finland. “Educational Structure of Population.” http://www.stat.fi/til/vkour/2010/vkour_2010_2011 -12-02_tie_001_en.html (Accessed December 2011). Valijarvi, Jouni, et al. The Finnish Success in PISA – And Some Reasons Behind It: PISA 2000. Jyvaskyla, Finland: University of Jyvaskyla Institute for Educational Research.

Florida Florida is the 22nd-largest state in the nation, with a total area of 58,560 square miles. The state of Florida is a peninsula bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. Approximately 54,136 square miles of Florida’s total area is land, while water comprises 4,424 square miles. The capital of Florida is located in Tallahassee. The executive branch of the government comprises the governor and cabinet consisting of the attorney general, chief financial officer, and commissioner of agriculture. While the state has a 6 percent sales tax, there is no state income tax in Florida. The state legislature consists of 120 House districts, and 40 Senate districts. Prior to the 2012 redistricting process, Florida had 25 congressional districts. The state is likely to gain two congressional districts because of reapportionment. According to the 2010 census, Florida’s population is 18,801,310. A total of 4,002,091 of Florida’s residents are under the age of 18, and 4,223,806 of Florida’s residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. The demographic composition of Florida by race speaks to the relative diverse population of the state, with 14,109,162 identifying as white; 2,999,862 as African American; and 454,821 as Asian. Over 1 million of the remaining 1,237,465 residents identify as “other” or indicate that two or more census categories would best characterize their racial identity. While Florida has been inhabited by humans for over 12,000 years, the first permanent European settlement was established by Spain in 1565, on the east coast of the state in what is now St. Augustine. The United States acquired Florida as a territory from Spain in 1821. Florida was admitted to the United States as the 27th state in 1845. In Florida, education reform efforts have historically outpaced national trends. Between 1976 and 1984, the Florida legislature initiated more educational reform than the legislative

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body of any other state. By 1984, Florida had enacted laws in 16 of the 20 categories recorded in A Nation at Risk. Additional legislation enacted during these years implemented performance-based provisions for certification and evaluation of teachers and principals, as well as an individual-level merit pay mandate and a school-level merit pay mandate. Since the 1980s, Florida has continued to lead the nation in several areas of education reform. In the area of school governance, Florida has implemented deregulatory strategies that allow some schools to become charter schools that, via a waiver process, can request exemption from some aspects of state control. In Florida, charter schools, along with the more controversial voucher system, form part of the larger school choice policy framework. While the state has implemented deregulatory strategies, it has also increased the emphasis on performance-based formulas for funding. Such programs as the 1999 Florida A+ Plan allowed Florida policymakers to link school choice and performancebased accountability within the same plan. Florida’s A+ Plan, in this instance, predated the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which also combined choice and accountability. Florida has 67 counties. Each county has one school district. In Florida, school superintendents may be

Table 1 Elementary and secondary education characteristics Florida U.S. (average) Total number of schools Total students Total teachers Pupil/teacher ratio

4,289 2,643,347 175,609.29 15.05

1,988 970,278 60,766.56 15.97

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), 2010–11. Table 2 Elementary and secondary education finance Florida U.S. (average) Total revenues Total expenditures for education Total current expenditures

$29,321,189,042 $11,464,385,994 $31,518,715,453

$11,712,033,839

$24,224,113,873

$9,938,906,259

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “National Public Education Financial Survey,” FY08 (2007–08).

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For-Profit Education

elected or appointed. Development research schools operate outside of the county district structure while still within the governance of the state Department of Education. The charter school movement has flourished in Florida, subsequent to the success of the choice initiatives promoted in the 1990s. Students in Florida may also use vouchers to attend private schools. Florida has taken steps to increase virtual education options for K–12 students. Florida recently instituted a voluntary pre-kindergarten program in an effort to address school readiness and improve literacy across the state. In Florida, voter referendums in the form of constitutional amendments have represented one recent strategy for implementing reforms in education policy. In 2002, for example, two education policy initiatives were presented to the Florida electorate as referendums. One referendum allowed Floridians to pass a constitutional amendment that would require the state to institute universal pre-kindergarten education. Revenue shortfalls in Florida have impacted education policy. For example, the legislative mandate to establish universal pre-kindergarten programs evolved into the implementation of the more fiscally conservative voluntary pre-kindergarten program. On the same ballot, in 2002, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit class size. To date, economic issues have plagued the implementation of the class size law. Floridians once again addressed class size via ballot referendum in 2010. The will of the people to uphold class size restrictions has created a legal and logistical bind for local school districts that are obligated to follow state law while struggling to balance limited budgets. Policy initiatives, such as the universal pre-kindergarten program and the class size amendment, have exacerbated the ongoing teacher shortage in the state. Florida, in response to the combined impetus of the growing teacher shortage and the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), began to allow school districts to offer a alternative professional preparation and certification programs to bring new teachers into the profession. Rachel Sutz Pienta Valdosta State University See Also: Charter Schools; Nation at Risk, A; No Child Left Behind; On-Line Education; School Choice; School Size/Class Size; Teacher Recruitment, Induction, and Retention; Voucher Programs.

Further Readings Brewer, T. M. “The ‘Grand Paradox’ in Teacher Preparation and Certification Policy.” Arts Education Policy Review, v.104/6 (2003). Chapman, L. H. “No Child Left Behind in Art?” Art Education, v.58/1 (2005). Cohen-Vogel, L. “Integrating Accountability With Choice: Implications for School Governance.” Peabody Journal of Education, v.78/4 (2003). Herrington, C. D. and V. Weider. “Equity, Adequacy and Vouchers: Past and Present School Finance Litigation in Florida.” Journal of Education Finance, v.27/1 (2001). Watlington, E. J. “Variables Associated With Teacher Retention: A Multi-Year Study.” Teacher Educator, v.40/1 (2004).

For-Profit Education For-profit education is the fastest growing sector of U.S. postsecondary education today. The sector includes some smaller, privately owned colleges, as well as larger institutions owned by publicly traded corporations. For-profit institutions are similar to public and private nonprofit colleges and universities with respect to degree offerings, but in contrast to these traditional institutions of higher education, forprofit institutions provide an education while seeking to make a profit for their stockholders and investors. Enrollment in for-profit institutions has increased rapidly since the 1990s, and these colleges and universities award a substantial number of postsecondary certificates and degrees. At the same time, the sector has come under scrutiny for some of its marketing strategies, recruitment practices, and the high rate of loan default among its students. For-profit education has been around for some time, but traditionally, for-profit institutions were small, local, independently owned colleges, focused mainly on vocational certificate programs in fields such as cosmetology, medical assistance, and truck driving. During the 1990s, the sector expanded rapidly, and publicly traded companies began operating institutions that enrolled large numbers of students. In 1990, there were 322 for-profit institutions that enrolled 213,693 students. By 2000, the sector had grown to 724 institutions, and enrollment had more