Last week, I had the honor and privilege of attending the Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Commission (ALEC) in Orlando. It was there that I joined state legislators from across the nation to collaborate on best practices and policy ideas that strengthen states and better serve our communities. With Florida being a leader in many areas of best practices, I, along with my Florida legislative colleagues, had the opportunity to hear from an unexpected visitor from another state.  

During the Thursday lunch session, ALEC attendees heard from a panel focused on the state of education, featuring Florida state representatives Jennifer Canady (future speaker-designate) and Demi Busatta (2026 ALEC national Chair) and Dr. Eva Moskowitz. Dr. Moskowitz is the founder and CEO of Success Academy, a system of top-performing public charter schools in NYC. New York State is currently home to 59 tuition-free public charter schools provided by Success Academy in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens neighborhoods. What I found most surprising about this panel was that, unlike Florida’s position as a leader in education, NYC’s public school system has historically struggled over decades. At the same time, this discussion gave me hope as Dr. Moskowitz and her team founded Success Academy to address the education crisis in the Big Apple.  

Dr. Moskowitz shared a report with ALEC attendees that her team developed documenting NYC’s longstanding public school system failure, how current efforts to revive the system are not sustainable, and lack of accountability in reporting. Over three decades, failing public schools have been identified, are reclassified (i.e., merging, rebranding, relabeling), receive additional funding support from the state, show little improvement in the years following, retire their current classification, and begin the cycle again. To make matters worse, New York State has historically failed to establish a consistent broader accountability network tracking the progress of these schools that are reclassified and receive funding support. According to the report, in NYC, a school can appear on six consecutive state accountability frameworks over 13years—with dozens appearing on five of the six lists, some new names. For example, The Hunts Point School was renamed the Bronx Academy for Multi-Media, while The School of Diplomacy merged with the Globe School for Environmental Research (since renamed toLeaders of Tomorrow). This shows hundreds of schools in a never-ending cycle of failing schools, chronic absenteeism, increased funding, and declining enrollment. Not only does this cycle drain state educational resources, but also robs students of a proper education and bright future. More than 900 schools—enrolling 400,000 of NYC’s public school students—showed fewer than half of their students passing math, reading, or both on last year’s state exams.  

As troubling as these findings were, Dr. Moskowitz noted that New York has long faced this problem. This year, the Nation’s Report Card showed a 30-year low in 12^th-grade reading achievement and that nearly half of graduating seniors are not capable of doing real-world math.This is not just a New York problem, but a nationwide issue that needs to be addressed. Dr. Moskowitz commended Florida’s leadership on tackling this issue, noting the value of giving high-quality schools access to surplus space in underused public facilities as well as holding operators accountable for results. Florida’s policy framework has established an environment for excellence in education. Dr. Moskowitz indicated that her team will be bringing their proven model to Florida in the near future. I commend Dr. Moskowitz for her leadership in bringing educational excellence in New York, and I am honored to be a part of Florida’s national blueprint for other states to follow in expanding educational opportunity for the next generation. 

Source: 

Educational Research Group, Success Academy. By any honest measure: New York City’s long record of school failure—and the price we keep paying. July 23, 2026.