Florida just shattered its own graduation record.
Teachers unions spent years claiming DeSantis was destroying education.
And Ron DeSantis hit teachers union bosses with one announcement that left them speechless.
Florida's graduation rate climbs to historic 92.2%
Governor Ron DeSantis stood before Florida lawmakers Tuesday and delivered news that had the teachers union grinding their teeth.
Florida's high school graduation rate hit 92.2% for the 2024-25 school year.
The rate jumped 2.5 percentage points over last year and has climbed 4.9 percentage points since 2021-22.
"Florida's historic graduation rate reflects the power of Governor DeSantis' strong leadership, clear expectations, and unwavering commitment to student success," Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said.
https://twitter.com/StasiKamoutsas/status/2011134561615331739?s=20
Every single student subgroup posted gains.
English Language Learners saw the biggest improvement with a 5.6 point increase over last year and 13.3 points since 2021-22.
African American students' graduation rate increased by 3.9 percentage points over last year and 7.2 percentage points since 2021-22.
Hispanic students were up 2.6 points, students with disabilities gained 2.3 points, and economically disadvantaged students saw a 3.3 point increase.
In 2005, less than 60% of students graduated from high school.
The state has climbed more than 30 percentage points in two decades on the back of consistent policies focused on high standards and accountability.
Teachers union responds with predictable complaints
The Florida Education Association couldn't just take the win.
They issued a rebuttal to DeSantis' State of the State address that blamed everyone except themselves.
"Anti-public education corporate interests at both the state and the federal level have pushed the privatization of public education as the magical fix for a chronic lack of investment in public schools, all the while creating systems that drain our public schools of billions of dollars each year," the union complained.
The union claimed educator pay isn't keeping up and vacancies are getting harder to fill.
But here's what the union conveniently ignored.
DeSantis has invested nearly $6 billion in teacher salaries since 2020, including a $1.56 billion increase in his 2026-27 budget—almost 15% more than last year and the highest-ever teacher salary increase in state history.
The National Education Association ranks Florida second-to-last for average teacher pay, but that ranking doesn't factor in Florida's cost of living or the fact that the state has no income tax.
When you account for what teachers actually take home and what their money buys, Florida looks a lot better than union talking points suggest.
DeSantis expanded school choice, giving parents real options instead of trapping kids in failing schools, with more than 500,000 students now in choice programs and homeschooling tripling to 155,000 students.
The union hates this because it breaks their monopoly on education dollars.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2011144996825755687?s=20
DeSantis beats teachers unions at their own game
DeSantis didn't just improve graduation rates.
He systematically dismantled the teachers union's stranglehold on Florida education.
In 2019, he passed the Family Empowerment Scholarship, allowing low and middle-income families to choose private schools.
In 2023, he signed universal school choice into law, eliminating income restrictions entirely.
He banned automatic payroll deductions for union dues, requiring teachers who want to join the union to write a check instead.
Teachers union membership in some counties dropped from 51.7% to 32.78% after that law took effect.
DeSantis also passed a law requiring unions to maintain 60% membership or lose their bargaining rights.
That's forcing unions to actually serve their members instead of just collecting dues and funding Democrat campaigns.
The union claimed DeSantis is on a "Blame Educators Tour" when he points out that local unions are delaying teacher raises by dragging out contract negotiations.
But that's exactly what's happening.
DeSantis allocated billions for teacher pay increases, and local unions are using those increases as leverage in negotiations instead of getting the money to teachers immediately.
"We beat the unions when we passed our family empowerment scholarship in 2019," DeSantis explained at a recent education event in Jacksonville. "We beat the unions in 2020 when we passed the universal choice."
He added that teachers are now "empowered" because Florida stopped facilitating automatic deductions for "organizations which have a partisan left agenda and put their interests ahead of the interests of students."
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2011144996825755687?s=20
The teachers union can complain all they want about privatization and corporate interests, but graduation rates are at an all-time high, student achievement is up across every demographic group, and Florida now ranks third in the nation for K-12 achievement and first for higher education.
The union's preferred model of monopoly control, forced dues, and zero accountability produced 60% graduation rates.
DeSantis' model of choice, competition, and high standards produced 92.2%.
Those results speak louder than any union press release.
Sources:
- Elizabeth Borodulin, "Florida breaks record for highest graduation rate in state history, education leaders praise strong leadership," Florida News, January 13, 2026.
- Danielle Prieur, "Graduation rates improve across Central Florida, as DeSantis touts state's highest rate on record," Central Florida Public Media, January 13, 2026.
- Florida Department of Education, "Florida Sets Highest Graduation Rate in State's History at 92.2%," January 13, 2026.
- A.G. Gancarski, "Ron DeSantis says Florida school choice should be national model," Florida Politics, January 11, 2025.
