Gov. Ron DeSantis is highlighting workforce education, telling media and supporters that the state is the best in the country when it comes to educating people for careers.
“We are doing what we said we would do,” DeSantis said in Titusville.
Noting that when he came into office Florida was struggling in the category, he said that’s not the case today.
“We were in the bottom half of states at the time,” DeSantis said, recalling that his administration “set a goal to make Florida No. 1 in America in workforce education by the year 2030.”
“That was ambitious, but we believed that if we did right it was achievable. Well, I’m proud to say that we made that goal,” he continued. “Today I can say that Florida is ranked No. 1 in the nation in workforce education, and we achieved that goal five years ahead of schedule.”
That applies across categories, such as talent attraction, public higher education, two-year college graduation rates, low tuition and fees, and educational freedom. He said he met goals in an executive order issued early in his first term, aided by investing $12 billion in workforce education, a number that leads other states “by a country mile.”
He also stressed the importance of “learning by doing,” with 25,000 people currently in apprenticeship programs that “allow them to get on-the-job training and learn” even in high school.
“It’s giving our students a huge advantage to get a foothold in the workforce,” DeSantis said.
