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Lakeland High School 2024 graduation. | Kimberly C. Moore, LkldNow
4-minute read
Polk County doesn’t have the lowest household income in Florida. It ranks 38th out of the state’s 67 counties. It doesn’t have the lowest property taxes, either. But due to a complicated state formula, Polk County does have nearly the lowest per-pupil school funding in the state, ranking 63rd out of 67 counties this year.
A math problem: School district officials say an antiquated system known as the Florida Educational Finance Program has chipped away at the county’s allocations.
“Polk County has been hit hard over the years,” said Jason Pitts, deputy superintendent and chief of staff for Polk County Public Schools.
“The Florida finance program that was created back in 1973 was designed in a way that, no matter where a student went inside Florida, their education should look the same.” However, Pitts said, the program’s calibrations have become inequitable.
The state has rolled back millage rates in recent years, so school districts can’t benefit from rising property values. The state also adjusts how much of the district’s budget should come from local funding versus state funding.
Community outcomes ‘not accidental,’ report says
The 2025 Child Well-Being Index by the Florida Policy Institute ranked Polk County 60th among the state’s counties for education — well behind nearby Hillsborough and Orange counties.
The study’s authors noted that there is a strong correlation between wealth and high rankings in areas such as health and education.
“The outcomes in communities are not accidental,” it states.
“Counties with higher rankings tend to be well-resourced places where families can afford to invest in nutritious food, high-quality education and other opportunities for their children. Counties that rank near the middle tend to have a mixture of well-resourced and less well-resourced areas.”
Polk County is underfunded — but that might not fully explain the district’s education outcomes, particularly compared with nearby counties.
Osceola County got even less funding than Polk this year, $8,572 per student, putting it second-to-last statewide. However, it ranked 50th for education in the FPI index — 10 places higher than Polk.
Orange County ranked 44th statewide for per-pupil funding, but 12th for education. And Hillsborough ranked 53rd for funding, but 25th for education.
Disadvantaged groups struggle in Polk
Although Polk County’s median household income is lower than Hillsborough and Orange counties, all three school districts have significant populations of students who live in poverty and whose parents are unable to help them with schoolwork, in some cases because they don’t speak English.
In Orange County, 39.2% of students are economically disadvantaged.
In Hillsborough County, 42.4% are economically disadvantaged.
In Polk County, 64% are economically disadvantaged.
English language learners: There are also significant populations of English language learners in all three school districts. The percentage of ELL students enrolled in K-12 general education this year is:
Orange County — 16.3%
Hillsborough County — 12.2%
Polk County — 11.8%
Similar starting points, different outcomes: Underprivileged students have similar difficulties early in their schooling in all three counties, according to data from the Florida Department of Education.
However, more low-income and ELL students graduate from high school in Orange and Hillsborough counties than in Polk.
There was a 3.6-percentage-point gap between the graduation rates of ELL students and native English speakers in Orange County last year. It was 12 points in Polk County.
And there was a 3.5-percentage-point gap between the graduation rates of low-income students and more affluent ones in Orange County. It was 7.1 points in Polk County.
Hoping to turn the tide
Pitts said that while funding is only one component of education quality, it impacts how many teachers and support staff members a district can hire and how much it can pay those professionals.
When classrooms are staffed by substitute teachers who aren’t certified, it’s harder for students to learn.
Pitts also said Polk County’s education funding plunged after the recession of 2007 when the housing boom collapsed.
“We lost a third of our property value in 2007,” he said. “It took us 10 years to get back what we lost in per-student funding.”
A look at funding levels over the past two decades shows fluctuation in Polk’s funding compared with other counties. The district ranked 49th in 2010 and 55th two years ago.
However, it has been consistently low relative to the rest of Florida.
Pitts said he hopes the state will revise its funding formula. “It needs to be updated.”
Insight Polk examines community conditions and solutions in six target areas from UCIndicators.org: economic & employment opportunity, education, housing, food security, transportation & infrastructure, and quality of life.
LkldNow’s Insight Polk independent reporting is made possible by the United Community Indicators Project with funding by GiveWell Community Foundation & United Way of Central Florida. All editorial decisions are made by LkldNow.
Cindy's reporting for LkldNow focuses on Lakeland city government. Previously, she was a crime reporter, City Hall reporter and chief political writer for newspapers including the Albuquerque Journal and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. She spent a year as a community engagement coordinator for the City of Lakeland before joining LkldNow in 2023. Reach her at cindy@lkldnow.com or 561-212-3429.
