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New report shows how Florida’s schools stack up to other states in quality, safety

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

As school systems across the U.S. work through the best way to start their fall semesters, WalletHub evaluated their quality.

The report evaluated school systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on two factors: quality and safety. Quality included presence of public schools in the "Top 700 Best U.S. Schools" as well as their math and reading scores. Safety included each state's out of school access to instructional materials and statewide school closures because of Covid-19.

Florida has the 22nd best school system with the 19th best quality and the 35th best safety of all states for an aggregate score of 53.71, the report shows.

The report also broke down states into more specific categories. The Sunshine State ranked well in its math and reading test scores and was among the top five lowest for bully incidence rate. It did not perform as well for its median SAT and ACT scores as well as its pupil-teacher ratio. 

Click here to read Brendan Ward’s story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.