A Tale of Two States – Florida Chooses Students, Maryland Chooses Bureaucrats
Students or the parents don't come first in Maryland. It’s the system. The unions. The bureaucrats. - By Carol Hughes
There’s a cartoon floating around that says more than a thousand education policy reports ever could. On one side is sunny Florida, kids smiling, backpacks on, a proud mom leading her children toward a sign that reads “School Choice.” On the other side? Gloomy, gray Maryland—dreary skies, frowning children, and a stone-faced bureaucrat standing guard under a sign that bluntly says “No School Choice.”
As someone who’s spent more time in PTA meetings and school board hearings than most career politicians spend reading legislation, I can tell you: that cartoon isn't satire—it’s reality.
Florida Gets It
Let’s start with what Florida is doing right. This year, the Sunshine State hit an impressive 89.7% high school graduation rate.1 Not only that, fourth-grade students scored an average of 243 in reading, outperforming the national average and leaving states like Maryland in the dust.2
How did they do it? Simple. School choice. Parents in Florida aren’t stuck sending their kids to a failing public school based on their zip code. They have options—charter schools, private schools funded by vouchers, virtual academies, and open enrollment policies. And guess what? It works.
Florida now operates over 730 charter schools with a 20.79% increase in charter enrollment over the last five years.3 That’s not just school reform—it’s a parent-powered revolution.
Maryland? Not So Much
Now let’s turn to Maryland—my home state and the land of great crab cakes and terrible education policy.
Our graduation rate? 85.8% and slipping.4 Our fourth-grade reading score? 234, below the national average.5 And in Baltimore City—brace yourself—only 10% of fourth graders can read proficiently.6 That’s not a statistic; that’s an educational disaster.
And yet, the powers that be in Annapolis continue to smother any meaningful education reform. Maryland has a measly 48 charter schools—nearly all crammed into Baltimore—and no statewide school choice program. No vouchers. No education savings accounts. Nothing.
Worse, they defend the status quo with a straight face while families beg for better.
The Bureaucratic Blob Is Winning
In Maryland, it’s not the students or the parents who come first. It’s the system. The unions. The bureaucrats. We spend more than $17,300 per student in public schools, yet our outcomes are declining.7 Where does all that money go? Into an ever-growing forest of administrative staff. Between 2000 and 2020, while student enrollment stayed relatively flat, the number of school administrators nationwide grew by 95%. Maryland's numbers mirror that national trend.
In Florida, the money follows the child. In Maryland, it vanishes into the system.
This Is a Civil Rights Issue
Let me be clear: School choice is a civil rights issue. No child should be trapped in a failing school simply because their parents can’t afford to move to a better neighborhood. Every child—whether they live in Potomac or West Baltimore—deserves access to a high-quality education.
Florida has shown us what’s possible when you prioritize students over systems. Maryland has shown us what happens when you do the opposite.
Final Thought: That Cartoon Wasn’t a Joke
Look again at that cartoon. The smiling mom in Florida, walking her children to the school of her choice, with opportunity shining above them. On the other side, a cold, gray Maryland with children staring at closed doors, watched over by a man in a suit who looks more like a DMV director than someone entrusted with your child’s future.
That’s not just a drawing. It’s the defining education debate of our time.
Maryland doesn’t need more meetings. It needs more choices. We need a governor, a legislature, and school boards that will fight for families—not for union endorsements. Let’s stop funding systems and start funding students.
And let’s bring some sunshine to the Old Line State.
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Carol Hughes is a Maryland-based education advocate and mother of three who believes every child deserves a future, not a bureaucratic excuse. Contact Carol Hughes at Carol.Hughes@mcgopclub.com
Footnotes
Florida Department of Education. “Florida’s Graduation Rate Continues to Climb.” ↩
Nation’s Report Card, 2024. Florida State Profile – Reading. ↩
Florida Charter School Alliance. “Charter School Enrollment Growth.” ↩
Maryland State Department of Education. “Graduation and Dropout Rates 2023.” ↩
Nation’s Report Card, 2024. Maryland State Profile – Reading. ↩
Maryland Public Policy Institute. “Better Off Truant?” ↩
U.S. Census Bureau. “Public Education Finances 2023.” ↩