When Heather Shaughnessy and her family relocated from Boston to Southwest Florida six years ago, school grades were the deciding factor. She did her homework, checked district ratings, and picked her spot based on the numbers. Fast forward to 2026, and Charlotte County just handed her a surprise that even she didn’t see coming: the district earned its first A grade in 15 years.
That’s the kind of turnaround story that gets people talking. Across the region, the momentum is real. Collier and Glades counties both earned As alongside Charlotte, while Lee and Hendry counties scored Bs. Only DeSoto County landed in the C range. Statewide, 76 percent of Florida schools now earn an A or B, up from 71 percent the year before. Progress is measurable, and by most measures, Southwest Florida’s schools are moving in the right direction.
But here’s where it gets complicated. As more schools climb into the top tiers, education advocates like the Foundation for Florida’s Future are asking whether the grading system is actually telling us what we need to know. When three-quarters of schools earn an A or B, does the letter grade still mean anything? Are we raising standards, or are we just inflating the scale?
A 10th grader from Lee County offered a reality check that cuts through the numbers. She pointed out that a school’s letter grade doesn’t capture the individual experience inside a classroom. Teachers matter. Peer groups matter. Sometimes you get the right combination, sometimes you don’t. A district can earn an A while individual students still struggle with inconsistent instruction, depending on which classroom they land in. The state says grades factor in student achievement, learning gains, graduation rates, and college and career readiness, but a single letter can’t possibly capture all those moving parts.
For families like Shaughnessy’s, these grades remain a practical tool for making one of the biggest decisions they’ll ever make. But for educators and policymakers, the question lingers: If almost everyone’s winning, are we actually measuring success, or just making ourselves feel better about the status quo?
