What Jeb Bush Has Wrought
News yesterday that influential members of congress were calling on the Florida Board of Education to reconsider the grade changes as they affect english-langauge learners. From Jeff Solochek in Gradebook:
The Florida Board of Education’s decisions to change the state school grading system to count the proficiency levels of students still learning English has drawn criticism from some of the state’s top Hispanic politicians.Perhaps this is what Miami-Dade superintendent Alberto Carvalho was alluding to last week. Still, its important
U.S. Rep. Iliana Ros-Lehtinen, state Sen. Rene Garcia and state Rep. Carlos Lopez Cantera have sent letters (attached below) to the board deploring its new policies, and the fact that several recommendations made by educators and activists were completely overlooked. They’re asking the board to think again, with an eye toward removing barriers that could hurt schools and students who can’t necessarily show their academic prowess in English.
”By not including any of the recommendations of the Task Force, your actions will severely impact the positive trend in student achievement made by Miami-Dade County Public Schools and various other school districts,” wrote Garcia chairman of the Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus.