In “A Few Good Men,” the movie’s defining moment arrived when Jack Nicholson’s character, Col. Nathan R. Jessup, screamed in indignation, “You can’t handle the truth!”

It became a catchphrase that still today comes up in everyday conversations in our lives.

Jack Nicholson and his imposing question came to mind recently when Gov. Rick Scott said state spending on K-12 education under his watch has been the highest in history.

At an Oct. 14 press conference, Scott mentioned tax cuts above and beyond the $400 millions that lawmakers had already approved earlier.

He had high hopes of cutting taxes by $1 billion over two years, but lawmakers don’t see how.

So, when a reporter asked Scott how in the world could he call for tax cuts and still guarantee public schools the funding they need, Scott said with sagacity: “We have the highest funding in (the) K- 12 system in the history of the state.”

Education has been identified as a top priority by the Studer Community Institute to help improve our community’s quality of life. The Institute’s Metro Dashboard of 16 metrics provide an at-a-glance look at educational attainment and set benchmarks to gauge progress and identify areas that need improvement.

Education funding has far-reaching implications on the quality of schools and student achievement in public schools.

Gov. Scott and the state GOP for years have been making the claim historic spending on public education ever since his 2014 re-election campaign, but is it fact or fiction?

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