Vogel, Blocker: Florida's school accountability system will fail
Florida's runaway school accountability system is destined to fail and take with it the positive goals it was intended to accomplish, the superintendents of Orange and Seminole county schools agreed Friday.
Orange Superintendent Ron Blocker and Bill Vogel, superintendent of Seminole schools, said the state's school districts are being overwhelmed by demands of the continually expanding accountability system. Teacher evaluations based in large part on student test scores — the latest requirement imposed by the Legislature — are unworkable and may be the tipping point, they said.
"We have an accountability system that is going to fall apart like a house of cards," said Vogel, criticizing state leaders for "making up the rules as they go along" without listening to educators.
Comments by Vogel and Blocker came during a "Two Chiefs, Two Decades" program in the Orlando Sentinel's "Florida Forward: Conversations about the Future" series. Blocker and Vogel, both retiring in June, commented on issues the schools will continue to face.
Blocker characterized former Gov. Jeb Bush as a "change agent" in bringing accountability