Florida Democrats Go After Republicans on Education Policy
State Democrat Chairman Rod Smith took advantage of the bad news on FCAT to let republicans have it yesterday. From the Miami Herald:
“The problem isn’t our public schools or our children — the problem is that the Republican Party has demonstrated a complete inability to run Florida’s public education system,” Smith in a statement. “Over the last decade, Republicans have railed against public schools, consistently underfunded them, required our teachers to teach to an ever-changing test and then feigned surprise when our students performed poorly.”
Smith’s quote was good one, but he’s late to the party. Alex Sink’s feckless campaign in 2010 against Rick
Florida Democrats Go After Republicans on Education Policy
State Democrat Chairman Rod Smith took advantage of the bad news on FCAT to let republicans have it yesterday. From the Miami Herald: “The problem isn’t our public schools or our children — the problem is that the Republican Party … Continue reading →
Top Florida Parent Group Says “We Are Witness to the Suffering Caused by FCAT”
From FundEducationNow: Orlando, Florida… FundEducationNow.org, a leading parent-driven statewide education advocacy group, issued the following comments today regarding the Florida Department of Education’s release of the 2012 FCAT 2.0 Grades 9 and 10 Reading and FCAT Writes scores: “As mothers … Continue reading →
Parents Across America: Parent “Choice” is Not Parent “Voice”
Influential public school advocacy group Parents Across America weren’t invited to Rep. Duncan Hunter’s House Education and Workforce sub-committee hearing on “Exploring State Success in Expanding Parent and Student Options.” No surprise there. PAA explains why: Yesterday, a subcommittee of the … Continue reading →
How Gerard Robinson is Taking the FCAT Bullet for Jeb Bush
This afternoon, the Miami Herald became the latest media outlet to blame this week’s FCAT writing disaster on eduction commissioner Gerard Robinson: This latest FCAT fiasco falls squarely on Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson. He was warned by superintendents there should … Continue reading →
Is Miami-Dade Next to Endorse the National Resolution on High Stakes Testing?
The state’s most recognized superintendent was clearly mad yesterday. Alberto Carvalho, a man who carefully chooses his words said some interesting things at the Miami-Dade school board meeting yesterday about this week’s FCAT nightmare. From Miami Herald columnist Fred Grimm: “What … Continue reading →
FairTest Calls for Independent Audit of FCAT, Pearson
From the Bradenton Times: BRADENTON – Based on a history of grading errors, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing has called for an independent audit and investigation of Pearson, the company that designed and graded the state’s 2012 FCAT … Continue reading →
Tampa Bay Times Rip Robinson for FCAT Fiasco
From an editorial which will appear in Wednesday’s newspaper the Tampa Bay Times holds education commissioner Gerard Robinson accountable for the FCAT writing test scoring disaster: ……But that answer is only a stopgap, and it raises significant issues about the meaning … Continue reading →
Deception and Spin From the Florida Board of Education
Jeb Bush’s cronies blinked. Lost – for now anyway – in today’s hastily thrown together decision by the Florida Board of Education to reduce passing FCAT Writing scores, was yesterday’s sloppy attempt to spin the numbers. Gradebook’s Jeff Solochek reports on this response from … Continue reading →