Inside Rick Scott’s FCAT Spin Machine
Brandon Larrabee gives a fascinating look into how Florida Governor Rick Scott and his staff sought to establish the narrative of the release of FCAT data. From the News Service of Florida, Larrabee writes:
The test crisis began when passing scores on the writing test plummeted from 81 percent to 27 percent for fourth graders and showed similar drop in eighth and 10th grades. The Florida Board of Education eventually met in emergency session to lower the passing grade from 4.0 to 3.0 while they develop a longer-term answer.
In the meantime, Scott’s office has been closely involved in helping to craft the public-relations effort in the wake of the renewed focus by the governor on public education, including a successful push for $1 billion in new state education funding during the last legislative session. The $1 billion in new funding partially restores the $1.3 billion that the Legislature and Scott cut in the previous legislative session.
At one point, the governor’s communications team and Carrie O’Rourke, a deputy chief of staff who handles education issues, made extensive comments and suggestions about a press release