Media coverage of education reform in Florida never ceases to amaze. What you should be hearing today are the sputtering responses of critics who have drawn widespread media attention in recent weeks with reckless claims that Florida’s ed reforms are an “unmitigated disaster.” Instead ...
The easy prompt for fair and obvious questions was yesterday’s release of the annual “Diplomas Count” report from Education Week. The independent analysis found that between 1999 and 2009, Florida’s graduation rate climbed 18 percentage points – more than all but two states. It also found that Florida’s black and Hispanic students are graduating at rates higher than the national average for like students, which is of no small import for a majority-minority state like Florida. The 2009 rate for Florida’s Hispanic students, in fact, put them at No. 2 among Hispanic students in all 50 states.
So how did the Florida media cover this compelling news? For the most part, it didn’t.
The Orlando Sentinel had a blog post yesterday. A couple of TV stations posted blurbs parroting a state press release. A couple of little-known news outfits did too. The Tampa Bay Times’ Gradebook blog managed six paragraphs this morning that at least put in some appropriate context. But as far as I can tell, there was not a word in the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post or any of the state’s other big papers. As far as I can tell, nobody asked the critics to respond.
Baffling. Remember, as the media have highlighted in dozens of stories over the past few weeks, we’re in the midst of some of the most serious pushback in years against Florida’s reforms. Emboldened by a flap over standardized test results, critics have tossed out one, reality-challenged claim after another about Florida’s public schools being bad and getting worse. And yet, virtually nobody in the media has bothered to note the overwhelming evidence that suggests otherwise.
The Ed Week report is yet more confirmation from a credible, outside source that Florida schools are on the rise. Given the lines they’ve drawn, I guess I can see why Fund Education Now and Parents Across America didn't issue congratulatory press releases. But I don’t get why the media keeps looking the other way, too.
