Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Florida has been ranked No. 1 in workforce education five years ahead of schedule while speaking at a news conference in Titusville this week.
The governor also rattled off several accolades by the state in achieving the goal, including the following:
- No. 1 in talent attraction: three years in a row
- No. 1 in higher education: nine years in a row
- No. 1 in education freedom: four years in a row
- No. 1 in two-year college graduation rates
- No. 1 in lowest tuition and fees
Gov. DeSantis signed an executive order to make Florida the No. 1 state in the nation for workforce education in 2019. Florida ranked 24th in the country with people 25-64 with an associate in arts degree or higher, or with a high workforce-relevant certificate at the time.
Moreover, the plan was to have students prepared for high-demand, high-wage jobs in the future.
The orginal goal for No. 1 was 2030.
"You look at all the bullets: every single bullet has been achieved, and these are things that are really significant and that are making a really, really big impact," DeSantis said.
While celebrating the achievement, Gov. DeSantis slammed Washington, D.C and Chicago for their direction on education.
"I'm not anyone that believes that money necessarily equals education outcomes. You have some of the worst schools in this country, like Washington, DC, and Chicago -- you look at how much money goes into that, it's feeding the bureaucracy," DeSantis said. "It's not educating students, and that's why they have failed schools."
However, DeSantis mentioned Florida's own $12 billion commitment to workforce education since 2019, leading to a different outcome.
"You do need to provide the tools, and that's not something that necessarily grows on trees. You do have to show a financial commitment to these programs and to this vision," DeSantis said. "That's more than anyone else has done by a country mile, and we're proud of doing that."
As a result, DeSantis noted Florida achieved a record-breaking 818,000 CTE (career and technical education) enrollment for K-12 students and nearly 512,000 post-secondary CTE during the past academic year.
He further highlighted Florida's growth in integrated education and training programs at a record 582 statewide.
"That's more than 11,000 students just in the last five years, providing adult learners the opportunity to earn credentials while completing their high school diploma," DeSantis said.
He also emphasized that the state's apprenticeship programs reached 25,000.
"That's an 11% increase year over year, and we've had a huge increase over the last seven years," DeSantis said. "This allows our students to actually get on-the-job training and learn.
"The best thing an employer is going to look for is, can you do the job? Do you have a resume and all the education? That's an indicator if you could do the job, but if you're actually showing you can do the job, that's the best evidence there is," DeSantis added.
The state's No. 1 achievement has also been supported by two grants.
Florida's Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program has allocated 240 million dollars to bolster workforce education and training. DeSantis commented that the grant has supported 80 agencies and 812 newly created programs.
In addition, the state's Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant Program has awarded 100 million dollars and registered 20,000 recipients in apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
"We are doing what we said we would do. I'm excited to see that this has been something that has come to fruition," DeSantis said.
