Florida is divided into sixty-seven school districts, one for each county. PropertyÊtaxes are collected in each school district for public primary and secondary education. Florida, however, was one of the first states to adopt a plan for state support of education in order to balance the quality of instruction from county to county. For example, in Collier County, where perÊcapitaÊincome is high, local sources finance 75 percent of the school district's operating budget; where as in Liberty County, where per capita income is low, 75 percent of the school budget comes from the state. Despite efforts to equalize funds available for schools, expenditures per pupil vary considerably by county, although some poor counties as well as wealthy ones have high expenditures.
HighÊschoolÊdropoutÊrates are highest in the more rural counties. The high dropout rate in some of these counties, especially those on the peninsular, may be attributed to the presence of a large number of migrant laborers and their families. A small percentage of Florida students attend private schools. Catholic school attendance figure heavily on the GoldÊCoast. In north Florida private school attendance increased following desegregation of the public schools. A higher share of graduating seniors on the Gold Coast enter college than in any other region.
