A recent edition of Newsweek magazine (May 21, 2007 edition) published its annual article entitled “Top 100 High Schools” that shows that Florida produced the highest number of the high schools for, at least, the past two years. In both 2006 and 2007 Florida had the highest number of high schools listed. The article listed 22 Florida high schools in 2007 and 20 in 2006 in their list of the “Top 100 High Schools” in the US. The closest states in 2007 were NY-13, TX-12, Va-11, CA-7, NC-6, and MD-5. Ft Myers High, (#67) from where my son graduated, and my daughter attends is an older public school. With all of the growth issues, financial constraints, diversity issues, and the flack Florida received from the national media for the voter counting accusations, do you think there might be a story on how and why Florida ranks at the very top each year, or why 76% of the top 100 high schools were concentrated in only 7 states?

How about it news media? Why not focus on what Florida and the other highest-ranking states are doing RIGHT to help and encourage the other states to join in the success and fun? Or are you going to continue to push the celebrity drivel on us about Anne Nicole Smith and her drug induced and money grabbing former life or the Hilton girl and her drug induced spoiled lifestyle. The national media is teaching our children and adults that to be successful and famous all you have to do is get involved in drugs, do anything possible to get money, and act like a spoiled privileged children, and the media will flock to you like bees to nectar.

What about the thousands of great kids, teachers, principals that are continually doing wonderful and remarkable things without even a whisper of recognition? The activities and stories within these “100 Top High Schools” are undoubtedly much more relative, exciting, and meaningful than the drug induced celebrities who we are bombarded with every day. Newsweek did its best to report some of these stories, and did a good job. But none of the newswires, newspapers, or other media outlets picked up or even mentioned these great stories. Sadly, these very important high school success stories have even been overwhelmingly avoided by the news media in Florida, and I imagine in the other successful states. My own local paper, “The News-Press” was just as guilty at avoiding this remarkable story, but has continued its focus on the negative, even if they have to create negative situations to make them newsworthy. These same media outlets constantly push on us every high school incident where a student was disciplined for taking even a screwdriver to school. Yet, they refuse to capitalize on this easily distributed and understood story.