The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that Florida’s population jumped by 211,000 residents, from 21,570,000 to 21,781,000, between July 2020 and July 2021.
During this same period, New York’s population plunged by 319,000, from 20,155,000 to 19,836,000.
Florida’s unemployment rate in Dec. 2021 was 4.4%, while New York’s was 6.2%. The nation’s rate was 3.9%.
Thirdly, COVID deaths in the Sunshine State are 63,000, while there were 67,000 deaths in the Democratic, dystopian, no-longer Empire State.
However, Florida has 4,552,000 residents 65 years of age and older, while New York has 3,352,000. Since 46,000 seniors died from COVID, Florida has suffered 1,011 deaths per 100,000 among this highly vulnerable cohort.
Since 52,000 New York seniors died from COVID, the state’s death rate among this key demographic is an abominable 1,551 per 100,000.
Of America’s 884,000 COVID decedents, 654,000 were 65 years of age or older, or 74%. Their death rate is 1,194 per 100,000,
Fourthly, Florida’s enrollment in public schools has exploded during the last three decades, while New York State’s has stagnated. In 1990, Florida’s public-school enrollment was 1.9 million students, and it soared to 2.8 million in 2021.
During this same period, New York’s enrollment dropped from 2.6 million to 2.5 million.
But in elite STEM public high schools, Florida badly lags New York. While the Sunshine State has only a handful of nationally-renowned STEM high schools, New York has dozens of these indispensable educational institutions.
Last month, the 300 semifinalists in the venerable Regeneron Science Talent Search (founded in 1942 by Westinghouse Electric) were announced, and 46 New York State high schools nurtured 93 of these brilliant young scientists, or a phenomenal 31%.
Florida (21.8 million), the third most populous state behind California (39.2 million) and Texas (29.5 million), produced only 12 semifinalists, from 10 different high schools, four of which are private.
In 2022, California is second with 45 Regeneron semifinalists, and New Jersey is third with 22.
The Bronx High School of Science leads with 10 semifinalists, and other metro New York City top performers are John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, Nassau County, with 6 semifinalists; and Ossining High School, Westchester County, with 5.
In 2017, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals succeeded Intel, as only the third corporate sponsor of the prestigious Science Talent Search.
During the last six contests, Bronx Science leads with 72 semifinalists; followed by New Jersey’s Bergen County Academies, 55; and The Harker School of San Jose, California, 44.
Phillips Andover of Massachusetts, with 14 semifinalists, is the other private high school among the Top 21 during Regeneron’s sponsorship.
No Florida high school made this illustrious list.
New York leads with 12 high schools, and California is second with three.
Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia have one high school each in the Top 21.
A broader ranking of America’s best STEM public high schools comes from U.S. News & World Report. Of the Top 250 schools, New York State has 24, but Florida has only two: Pine View High School in Sarasota County; and Westshore Junior/Senior High School in Brevard County.
Other top states are California, with 47 elite STEM public high schools; New Jersey and Massachusetts, 23 each; and Illinois, 15.
During the third decade of the 21st century, Florida’s political, educational and business leaders must expeditiously expand and improve the state’s STEM public high schools.
They can follow the lead of North Carolina, Illinois and Texas, by creating a free boarding school, which can enroll students from anywhere in Florida.
Indeed, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, founded in 1980, is ranked fourth since 2017, having cultivated 42 Regeneron semifinalists.
Secondly, Florida’s leaders can create countywide or multiple-county schools.
The latter model is used by Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, whose student body is drawn from Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William counties, and from the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church.
Thomas Jefferson, founded in 1985, ranks seventh with 34 Regeneron semifinalists, during the last six contests.
Finally, many teachers and administrators from tristate New York City, who are currently retired in Florida, successfully mentored students for the Regeneron/Intel/Westinghouse contest, and for other science, math and technology competitions.
They can be invaluable contributors to the booming Sunshine State’s urgent expansion of STEM public high schools.
Mark Schulte is a retired New York City schoolteacher and mathematician who has written extensively about science and the history of science. Read Mark Schulte's Reports — More Here.
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