PolitiFact: Crist gets half-true on education rankings

DECEMBER 21, 2009

Gov. Charlie Crist's persistent claim that Florida has recently moved from No. 31 to No. 14 to No. 10 in Education Week's annual, state-by-state rankings is half true, rules PolitiFact, the St. Petersburg Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site. (Alas, this Times story only got it half-right, too.)

But Crist might want to look at the rankings a little closer, PolitiFact adds. Then he could have trumpeted -- accurately -- that in K-12 achievement, Education Week says Florida has moved from No. 31 to No. 7.

Seriously.

Education Week's formula looks at not only where states stand on national test scores (NAEP and AP), graduation rates and achievement gaps, but how much they've improved in those areas. The next round of rankings should be out soon.

Posted by Ron Matus at 5:15:08 pm on December 21, 2009 in

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going in on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.

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