Bob Collins
At the invitation of Republican legislative leaders, former Florida governor Jeb Bush came to Minnesota today to lecture the state on ways to be more like Florida, at least where education reforms are concerned.
Do you want to be more like Florida in anything? There’s virtually no measurement by which the grass looks greener there, except for the green of the grass, of course.
Courtesy of the Census Bureau (and others as indicated), here’s how the two states stack up in national rankings.
| Category | Florida | Minnesota |
| Persons 25 Years Old and Over with Bachelor’s Degree or More |
27th | 10th |
| Average ACT score | 19.5 | 22.9 |
| Average SAT reading score | 496 | 594 |
| Average SAT math score | 498 | 607 |
| Average SAT writing score | 479 | 580 |
| Infant mortality (high to low) | 19th | 45th |
| American Health Rankings | 40th | 1st |
| Violent crime rate (high to low) | 5th | 35th |
| Current unemployment rate | 11.1% | 6.6% |
| Persons living in poverty | 22nd | 42nd |
| Personal income | 21st | 11th |
| Foreclosure rate | 13.68 | 2.9 |
| National Driver’s Test | 41st | 4th |
| Traffic fatalities | 18th | 46th |
| Car insurance rates (lowest) | 37th | 6th |
| Business climate index | 5th | 43rd |
| Average temperature | 1st | 47th |
What does Florida have to teach Minnesota? That Minnesota is a pretty great place to live.
By the way, the Palm Beach Post evaluated Bush’s claims that his education reforms have worked. Although fourth-grade test scores are higher than they were 10 years ago, it’s not sustained through high school, the paper says.
(Photo:Mark Zdechlik)
