MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County Public School District officials were celebrating Wednesday, as they announced that no schools received an "F" grade for the 2016-17 school year.
"This year, the impossible became the inevitable," MDCPS superintendent Alberto Carvalho said.
School district officials said 94 percent of schools were graded either an "A," "B" or "C," and 66 percent were rated an "A" or "B."
It was only six years ago that Florida's Board of Education recommended that Miami Central and Miami Edison Senior High Schools close down, blaming poor FCAT results and past academic failures.
Fast forward to 2017, and both Edison and Central have risen to "C" schools.
"We don't give up on our schools. We don't give up on our communities," Carvalho said.
A total of 39 percent of schools were rated an "A," which is 9 percent higher than the state.
"This is my proudest moment," Carvalho said.
School district officials said the graduation rate was historically high for the county, with more than 80 percent of high school seniors graduating this year.
"Failure has been eliminated," Carvalho said.
Broward County public schools also did well this past school year, as 30 percent of schools received an "A" grade, up from 23 percent the previous year.
"Year after year, we continue to show growth and improvement in Broward County public schools," BCPS superintendent Robert Runcie said.
A total of 20 percent of schools received a "B" rating and about 41 percent earned "C" ratings.
School district officials said 11 schools received "D" ratings and two schools were rated as "F's," including Larkdale Elementary and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Montessori Academy.
"We had 10 last year. We're down to two. Our goal is to eliminate that," Runcie said.
Miami-Dade County and Broward County public schools were both given a "B" rating overall.