Did California Governor Jerry Brown’s Decision to Derail Testing Influence Rick Scott’s FCAT Rankings Gambit? | Scathing Purple Musings

Did California Governor Jerry Brown’s Decision to Derail Testing Influence Rick Scott’s FCAT Rankings Gambit? | Scathing Purple Musings:

Did California Governor Jerry Brown’s Decision to Derail Testing Influence Rick Scott’s FCAT Rankings Gambit?

by Bob Sikes

Topher Sanders reports in the Florida Times-Union:

At the request of Gov. Rick Scott, state Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson has ranked Florida’s 67 school districts by student achievement and St. Johns County is No. 1, according
It’s unclear what the ranking considers and what methodology was used to develop the list.
Scott’s spokesman Brian Burgess said Scott did request a list but that the governor’s office wasn’t ready to speak on the matter.
The Florida Department of Education is scheduled to hold a news conference on the rankings Monday at 10 a.m.

As the rankings by FCAT data were Scott’s idea, its clear that it was done for political reasons. Policy manners

Steve Wise Meddles in High School Athletics in Odd Attempt to Empower Private and Charter Schools

by Bob Sikes

You gotta hand it to Jacksonville republican Steve Wise for creativity. What better, stealth way could there be than to empower the private and charter schools he favors than to force state public schools sports teams to play them in a championship game every year. Seriously:

The Senate bill calls for annual championship competition matching FHSAA champions against SIAA champions in all sports. The House version has many of the same key points, including provisions that would allow private-school students to participate on teams at a public school.
Both prohibit the FHSAA from denying or discouraging regular-season competition between its 700-plus member schools and SIAA teams.
The FHSAA’s board of directors last year turned down an SIAA request for interleague play