Study Reveals Lack of Confidence in Florida Schools

The Institute for Governance and Civics (IGC) at Florida State University recently published their findings after surveying 1,234 Florida voters before the 2024 general election about trust in public schools. They found that an “alarming” number of Floridians do not trust K-12 schools, and that their distrust primarily comes from the concerns that schools have become overly politicized.

Overall, only 38% of Floridians trust K-12 schools to provide students with a good education. Unsurprisingly, partisanship plays a significant role in how much Floridians trust schools, with Democrats trusting them the most. The survey shows 79.5% of Democrats trust the current school system, 53.6% of Independents, and only 39.1% of Republicans.

When asked the cause of their distrust, 27.4% of respondents claimed schools place “too much emphasis” on race, gender, and identity. Only 6.7% of Democrats agree, compared to 31.9% of Independents and 37.8% of Republicans. When asked if they trust schools to provide an education free of political bias, 73% of Republicans disagreed. Additionally, 54.2% of Independents and 31.5% of Democrats distrust the school system to teach without bias. Overall, 50.2% of Floridians believe that left-leaning politics contribute to distrust in the school system, with 38.6% of Republicans, 13.5% of Independents, and only 5% of Democrats agreeing.

So, how can schools fix this crisis of confidence? The IGC suggested five possible reforms to establish a higher level of trust with schools: requiring Constitutional civics classes, increasing transparency for parents, mandating the use of classical texts, granting more control to parents, and allowing the state to take over failing schools.

The survey found that 77% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 85% of Republicans support the idea of requiring civic education in K-12 schools. The second most popular option is providing more transparency with parents, with 58.4% of Democrats, 65.4% of Independents, and 83.2% of Republicans agreeing that more information would boost trust.

Like most disagreements, citizens are divided by partisanship over the quality of Florida K-12 schools, with their personal views strongly shaping their trust in the system. Despite the differences, Floridian voters have broadly agreed that K-12 education should prepare students to be responsible citizens, and civics education rooted in the Constitution could provide a strong path to rebuild trust in schools.