New York City is spending $32,000 per student.
But officials still can't get half its fourth graders to read.
And Ron DeSantis just announced Florida hit number one in the entire country for workforce education – five years ahead of schedule.
From the Bottom Half to Number One in Seven Years
When DeSantis took office in 2019, Florida ranked in the bottom half of the country for vocational and technical education.
He signed an executive order: number one in workforce education by 2030.
They got there in 2026.
Standing at Titusville High School – right on Florida's Space Coast – the governor rattled off what seven years of serious investment looks like.
Number one in talent attraction, three years running.
Number one in public higher education, nine years running.
Number one in education freedom, four years in a row.
Number one in two-year college graduation rates.
Number one in lowest tuition and fees.
Florida has committed more than $12 billion to workforce education since 2019 – and those aren't dollars going to bureaucrats.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2023907629312188643?s=20
Kids at Titusville Are Getting Hired by SpaceX Right Out of High School
Over 818,000 K-12 students are now enrolled in Career and Technical Education programs in Florida – a 30% jump since 2019.
Nearly 512,000 post-secondary students are in those same programs.
Active apprenticeships have hit 25,000, an 11% increase year over year.
More than 524,000 Floridians have earned rapid workforce credentials since DeSantis took office.
Students at Titusville High are earning certifications in cybersecurity, mechatronics, and nursing – and walking directly into jobs at Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, and Lockheed Martin.
Not $100,000 in debt with a sociology degree.
Actual careers.
DeSantis didn't mince words about the alternative: "Not everyone needs to go to a traditional four-year brick and ivy university. Unless you're going to MIT, you certainly don't need to go $100,000 in debt in order to do that."
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2023848120715706568?s=20
While Florida Was Winning, New York and California Were Paying More to Fail
New York now spends $32,284 per student – the highest in the nation.
Test scores are falling anyway.
California spends $25,941 per student and ranks 37th in the country for K-12 education.
Only 35% of California fourth graders are proficient in math.
Twenty-five percent of eighth graders.
Los Angeles Unified just approved a budget with a $2.9 billion deficit while enrollment has cratered from 747,000 students to 387,000 over two decades.
More money, fewer kids, worse results.
DeSantis called it out directly: "You have some of the worst schools in this country, like Washington, D.C., and Chicago – you look at how much money goes into that, it's feeding the bureaucracy. It's not educating students."
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2023783143598408175?s=20
Florida Just Proved the Education Establishment Wrong
The left has insisted for decades that education success requires endless spending – and that anyone who questioned it was anti-child, anti-teacher, anti-progress.
Florida just proved that's garbage.
The real question was never how much money you throw at a system.
It was whether that system actually prepares kids for the real world – or just keeps union bosses employed and administrators comfortable.
Florida's kids are launching rockets, securing networks, and running CT machines at 22 years old with zero debt.
New York's kids are sitting in shrinking classrooms while the per-pupil bill climbs toward $35,000 a year.
Every parent in this country should be asking their state government a simple question: why did Florida figure this out, and why haven't you?
Sources:
- Gov. Ron DeSantis Press Office, "Florida Reaches #1 in Workforce Education," Executive Office of the Governor, February 17, 2026.
- Michelle Vecerina, "Florida hits workforce education milestone five years early, DeSantis announces," Florida Phoenix, February 17, 2026.
- Michael Costeines, "DeSantis Touts Florida's No. 1 Workforce Education Ranking Five Years Ahead of Schedule," The Floridian, February 17, 2026.
- Esther Wickham, "Record school spending fails to reverse fall in test scores," The Center Square, December 2025.
- Lightcast, "2024 Talent Attraction Scorecard," Florida Department of Education, September 2025.
