MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Florida’s ongoing reading crisis is fueling renewed debate over school funding, even as arts educators and advocates in Miami-Dade County point to expanded creative programs they say are improving student engagement and academic success.
It comes as the new Education Recovery Scorecard — a collaboration between researchers at Harvard University and Stanford University — found that Florida ranks 35th out of 35 states in reading recovery between 2022 and 2025.
At the same time, educators and arts advocates in Miami-Dade are pushing for increased investment in arts programs they say help boost attendance, literacy and overall student performance.
At the Marshall L. Davis Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Miami Gardens, local arts organizations gathered to celebrate the expansion of Arts Access Miami into Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Central District.
A recent Arts Access Miami impact study found students participating in arts programs saw higher attendance rates and measurable improvements in math and English scores.
“We are giving opportunities to students across our county to find the room where they belong because when that happens it absolutely changes their lives,” said Jamie Sutta of Vocal Youth Miami.
Zach Larmer, the CEO of Young Musicians Unite, said arts education plays a key role in motivating students to attend school and stay engaged in the classroom.
“At first it might not look like they’re connected, but every student needs a reason to get up in the morning to be motivated and to make it to the classroom,” Larmer said. “If learning is going to happen, then you have to be there.”
Chad Bernstein, CEO and co-founder of Guitars Over Guns, said arts programs help students find a sense of identity and belonging.
“I think the arts gives us the opportunity to have students create those spaces and find themselves in those spaces,” Bernstein said.
Researchers found Florida students are performing about half a grade level below their 2022 reading levels. The report also found chronic absenteeism remains nearly nine percentage points above pre-pandemic levels statewide.
In South Florida, researchers found Broward County Public Schools is performing somewhat better than the state average in reading recovery, while Miami-Dade County Public Schools is tracking closer to statewide trends.
In math, however, both Miami-Dade and Broward students outperformed the statewide average in recovery gains.
Steve Gallon III, who represents District 1 on the Miami-Dade School Board, said the report highlights the long-term impacts of the pandemic and years of underinvestment in literacy programs.
“I think anytime you get a report that’s this serious, it gives us an opportunity to see not only where we stand as a state but where we stand for our students to compete at the national and quite frankly global level,” Gallon said.
Gallon also pointed to Florida’s education spending levels, noting the state has ranked 50th in average teacher pay for three straight years and 41st in per-student spending, according to the National Education Association rankings.
At the same time, Florida lawmakers are negotiating the state’s next education budget during the legislative session. Senate budget documents show lawmakers are proposing a roughly 1.75% increase in education funding, which Gallon argued does not keep pace with inflation.
“We’re not going to continue to be able to support our teachers, support our employees and quite frankly compete with the challenges that we face in terms of affordability,” Gallon said.
He also raised concerns about what he described as declining investment in early childhood education and public schools overall.
According to the Florida Policy Institute, Florida’s overall 2025-26 education budget decreased by 1.3% to $31.5 billion, with early learning programs seeing the largest proportional cuts.
“We need to make an intentional investment in early childhood programs,” Gallon said. “Reading is the foundation.”
Despite the concerns, Gallon said research continues to show arts education can play a meaningful role in student success.
“It is very, very clear that research demonstrates that art education stimulates learning, it stimulates literacy, and it stimulates the overall well-being of children,” he said.
Miami-Dade Public Schools released a statement saying the district is outperforming the state and comparable urban districts in both math and reading recovery and said preliminary testing data shows “continued academic momentum.”
According to the Education Scorecard, Florida ranked 24th in math recovery nationwide, while both Miami-Dade and Broward counties exceeded the statewide average in math improvement since 2022.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education described the “Education Scorecard” comparisons as “arbitrary.”
Researchers behind the scorecard said on their website that “similar districts” are selected based on district characteristics averaged from 2022 to 2025 using data from the Stanford Education Data Archive, or SEDA, including:
- Average enrollment in grades 3 through 8
- Percentage of students receiving federally subsidized lunches
- Racial and ethnic demographics within the district
- Percentages of students attending urban, suburban and town schools
- Average socioeconomic status of families in the district
Researchers said socioeconomic status was measured using a composite index that included:
- Median family income
- Percentage of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher
- Unemployment rates
- Household poverty rates
- SNAP benefit participation
- Percentage of households with children led by a single mother
The Florida Department of Education spokesperson also said “the number of students performing on grade level has significantly increased, with nearly 115,000 more students on grade level in English language arts and 100,000 more in math compared to prior years,” but did not provide the source data or methodology used to support the statement.
The spokesperson also told Local 10 News that, in the department’s view, the “Education Scorecard” “does not take into account that Florida actually outperformed the nation and ranked in the top 10 in Grade 4 reading performance in 2024,” but did not cite a source for that claim.
It remains unclear who determined that Florida “outperformed the nation” and ranked in the top 10 for fourth-grade reading performance in 2024, or how that conclusion was measured, because those details were not included in the statement.
Local 10 News has asked the department to provide links to the findings and the assessment methodology referenced in the statement. If those materials are provided, they will be shared with readers.
Read the budget comparison in the documents below for a better understanding of the Conference Committee between the House Higher Education Budget Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education and the Education Scorecard.
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