PANAMA CITY — State and local leaders highlighted successes both in the classroom and the local airport terminal at the Bay County Chamber’s First Friday event this week.
The November program brought Florida Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart and Till Bruett, chairman of the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport Authority, who each championed successes for their respective agencies.
Stewart, who was appointed the state’s education commissioner last year, gave a report of the state’s education system “by the numbers,” chronicling 2.7 million students in the public education system and more than 190,000 certified educators.
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Between 2011 and 2013, Florida’s graduation rate increased by 5 percent, Stewart said, and the school system also jumped from 48th to sixth in the nation on an annual ranking of U.S. public school systems by Education Week.
Additionally, Florida was the only state in the nation to show improvement in the learning gap between white and African-American students.
“We were the only state in the nation that narrowed the achievement gap between white and African -American students in both fourth and eighth grade both reading and mathematics on the” National Assessment of Educational Progress, said Stewart, referencing the criticism the state took a few years back for setting “race-based goals.”
“I will forever believe that if you don’t shine a light on an issue, you will never improve that issue,” she continued. “That is precisely what Florida was doing and the proof is in the fact that we were the only state that narrowed that gap. It really is one of the numbers that I am the most proud of.”
But with new testing standards and teacher evaluation standards recently adopted, Stewart said there is still plenty of work to be done. The goal, she said, was to develop a curriculum that focuses on critical thinking and a testing system to accurately measure students’ knowledge.
“I believe we do have the best standards possible,” Stewart said. “Those numbers represent thousands and thousands and thousands of students that are able to do things that 10 years ago our students wouldn’t have been able to do. (Students) have opportunities we never thought would be possible.”
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Bruett also spoke at Friday’s event, which brought together hundreds of members of the local business community, echoing an announcement made public early Friday that United Airlines will launch service at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in March 2015.
The airline’s regional branch, United Express, will provide twice-daily, year-round service to the airline’s largest passenger hub at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). The flight will give Bay County travelers access to more than 100 destinations through a one-stop connection via the Houston airport.
“It’s a big step,” Bruett said of the announcement. “We on the airport board as well as the management at the airport know that travel and connection opportunities are important to your business ventures. We are confident this will be a great partnership for United and will lead to additional nonstop service for our passengers resulting in more routes and destinations.”
