Wednesday’s State Board Meeting May Get Interesting
ICYMI Florida Is Now Number 2
On Wednesday, June 4, 2025, Florida’s State Board of Education will meet for the first time since April. The agenda seemed relatively benign until they added Action Item #6 Consideration of the Appointment of Commissioner of Education
This will be the first meeting since current Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz Jr., was appointed as Intermim President at the University of West Florida (UWF), making him the front-runner for the permanent position. Wednesday will likely be his last board meeting as commissioner.
Manny’s replacement is rumored to be another Hialeah native, current Deputy Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Anastasios Kamoutsas – known as “Stasi.” Before joining the Governor’s Office, Kamoutsas served as Chief of Staff at the Florida Department of Education, where he was also the agency’s top lawyer. It is also rumored that Kamoutsas coordinated the ambush leading to the departure of the previous UWF President that lead to Diaz’s interim appointment. Will the State Board go through the motions of a search for a new commissioner or simply appoint DeSantis’ “chosen one?”
For the record, I have followed Florida education policy for a long time and I had never heard of “Stasi” before last Wednesday.
This Wednesday will also be the first time the state board will meet in public following the May 6th release of the 2025 U.S. News and World Reports’ (UNWR) State Rankings. [For what it’s worth, I’m not a fan of U.S. News & World Report or NAEP rankings. In my view, they’re more often misused than applied constructively, and they tend to reward policies that game the system rather than genuinely improve it. That said, Florida has traditionally celebrated success in both—and lately, according to these very metrics, we’ve been heading in the wrong direction.]
Unlike previous years when press releases from the FLDOE and Governor celebrated Florida’s #1 ranking, this year they have been silent. Why? Probably because they have been overtaken by New Jersey who now ranks #1 due to it’s very strong ranking in every PreK-12 category. New Jersey ranks #1 in College Readiness and Preschool Enrollment, #2 in NAEP Reading Scores, #3 in High School Graduation Rate and #5 in NAEP Math Scores.
Florida retains its top ranking in Higher Education for the time being but its PreK-12 ranking has plummeted from #10 in 2024 to number #22. Let’s take a closer look at the current rankings and their methodology.
Florida’s 2025 PreK-12 rankings:
| Metric | 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall PreK–12 | #22 | #10 | Major decline |
| College Readiness | #6 | #5 | Based on SAT/ACT performance |
| Preschool Enrollment | #12 | #12 | Flat |
| High School Graduation | #17 | #19 | Slight improvement |
| NAEP Math (8th Grade) | #41 | #32 | Significant drop |
| NAEP Reading (8th Grade) | #43 | #21 | Even worse drop |
Though 4th grade NAEP scores improved in Math (from #4 to #2) and dipped modestly in Reading (from #3 to #10), these are not included in USNWR’s methodology, which focuses on 8th grade.
In 2024, USNWR raised concerns about the potential long-term consequences of DeSantis’ aggressive policy changes—particularly curriculum constraints, school choice expansion, and underfunded public schools. Now, we may be seeing those warnings come to life.
When Florida’s dismal 2025 NAEP results were released earlier this year—marking the lowest 8th grade math scores in 20 years and the lowest reading scores in 25—Commissioner Diaz blamed the test itself. Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell put it bluntly:
“If any national testing organization ever gives out awards for excuses, Florida will earn an A-plus.”
Diaz is now requesting that Florida’s private schools be allowed to “opt-in” to NAEP testing—a privilege denied to public schools, which are randomly selected. [See my earlier point about the tendency to “game the system.”]
In the meantime, Florida’s Legislature appears to be on the cusp of passing a budget that, by slashing performance funding for advanced high school courses (Advanced Placement – AP, Dual Enrollment – DE, etc), may impact future USNWR Higher Education Rankings.
Higher Ed Still #1… For Now
Florida still holds the top spot in USNWR‘s Higher Education rankings, bolstered by low tuition and high graduation rates.
| Metric | 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Higher Ed | #1 | #1 |
| Low Tuition and Fees | #1 | #1 |
| 2-Year Grad Rate | #1 | #2 |
| 4-Year Grad Rate | #1 | #2 |
| Low Student Debt | #33 | #26 |
| Educational Attainment | #24 | #25 |
These rankings reflect a system where students are encouraged to earn college credit in high school—through AP, Dual Enrollment, and other programs—to reduce costs and graduate on time. But proposed cuts to performance funding for these advanced courses in the upcoming state budget could undermine these very advantages.
The Questions No One May Ask
As the State Board convenes ion Wednesday, some important questions hang in the air:
- Will anyone acknowledge Florida’s slide in the PreK–12 rankings?
- Will there be a public discussion on the impact of budget decisions on future performance?
- Will anyone dare to say out loud that Florida is no longer #1?
Tune in Wednesday, June 4 at 10 a.m. on The Florida Channel.
Things may get interesting…
