TCPalm reporter Jack Lemnus compiled five years’ worth of data on 89 Treasure Coast public, charter and magnet schools to isolate variables such as student demographics, poverty and academic achievement. Lemnus combined extensive research with in-person interviews with students, parents, teachers and principals to understand how some public schools can balance high student poverty with A grades. He spent days touring these schools — from student drop-off to lunch to recess — trying to figure out how they tick.
How did you discover this story?
I became interested in how Florida grades its schools after reading about how 71% of all K-12 Florida schools received either an A or B grade in the 2024-25 school year.
As someone not far removed from the public school system and someone who tutors third graders in my free time, I wondered if there were a more nuanced explanation as to how Florida’s students are doing.
That’s when I learned about Florida’s counterintuitive school grading system. For example, an elementary school must meet 62% or more of its academic benchmarks to receive an A grade, rather than 90% or more.
This system has spurred debate for years, but what hasn’t been thoroughly discussed are the schools that earned As while serving nearly 100% economically disadvantaged students. I became fixated on these so-called “secret sauce schools” and knew I needed to learn more.
Why was this an important local story to report?
Any school serving its students deserves praise, but those that balance substantial poverty and language barriers with high academic achievement need to be studied.
These schools are accomplishing something astonishing despite the economic and social hurdles — not to mention increased competition as more parents use public dollars to send their children to charter, magnet and private schools outside their communities.
If we learn the ingredients in the secret sauce, maybe educators around the country can replicate them.
What most interested you about this story?
I find journalism and education to be cousin careers. Reporters and teachers both accept lower pay and longer hours because we believe in the power of education as an antidote to society’s worst inclinations.
For schools to provide that opportunity to our most vulnerable children is something worth celebrating.
Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1345, or follow him on X @JackLemnus.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida Title I schools balance student poverty with high grades