Posted on 05/13/2003 12:10:33 AM PDT by sarcasm
IAMI, May 12 — A small group of minority politicians and prominent religious leaders in Florida is threatening a boycott of some of the state's largest industries in the hope of forcing the suspension of an achievement test that thousands of high school seniors recently failed.
State education officials announced last week that about 13,000 seniors in Florida public schools had failed the exam, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, leaving them ineligible to graduate. The state said that it did not immediately have the number of students who took the test but that it would release more information on Thursday.
Opponents of the exam are asking Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Department of Education to consider a moratorium on the exam to assess the need for it and determine how to raise test scores.
"The F.C.A.T. carries too much weight," said Victor Curry, bishop of New Birth Baptist Church in Miami and a prominent black religious leader in South Florida. "It's too much pressure for a test to determine whether or not you can march with your classmates. The assessment test should be factored in with everything else the child does in school."
Mr. Curry and other critics say that black and Hispanic students fail the test in disproportionate numbers.
"He listens to big money," Mr. Curry said of Governor Bush. "We figured we'd just deal with the industries that put money in his pocket."
"We are asking the people of Florida to not buy sugar from the state of Florida, to not go to theme parks, to not buy orange or grapefruit juice," Mr. Curry said. "Our objective is for them to in turn call on Jeb Bush and ask him to call for a moratorium on this F.C.A.T. We're hoping that in putting pressure on these industries, we'd be putting pressure on him."
The assessment test is part of what Governor Bush calls his A-plus education plan to improve public education in Florida. The state began using the exam in 1999 as a tool to determine whether students were learning reading, math, writing and science skills. Students begin taking the assessment test in third grade, and seniors must pass it to graduate. Students who fail the exam can retake it as often as they want.
"The F.C.A.T. is a standardized test developed by Florida teachers to measure whether children are learning the skills they should at each grade level," Frances Marine, press secretary for the Florida Department of Education, said in an e-mail response to an interview request. "It helps us assess student and teacher achievement in a uniform way and allows us to determine whether improvement is needed."
Representatives of the industries facing the boycott threat said critics' efforts were misdirected and doubted they would gain much support.
"Our response is it's not a tourism issue," said Tom Flanigan, a spokesman for Visit Florida, the state's tourism agency.
Mr. Flanigan said the critics' efforts "might be more productively directed toward the part of state government that can actually do what they want concerning F.C.A.T."
"Anything that would discourage people from coming to the state is a matter of concern," he said.
Governor Bush has said the achievement test is an appropriate measure of the academic progress of students and teachers.
Jill Bratina, a spokeswoman for the governor, said: "Accountability is extremely important. We have put programs in place to help students who did not pass the F.C.A.T. to be able to receive the G.E.D. through the community college system. That puts them on the path to receiving a college degree. The state is committed to helping these students receive the skills they need to be successful in the long term."
Critics say that students who pass required courses should not have to settle for a general educational development degree, or G.E.D., simply for failing a test.
"The fact that the test is the sole determining factor of whether a child has mastered the curriculum is unfair," said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, the state's teachers union. "Some students just don't test well. To have a test that might be a deterrent on their future is just not fair."
Seniors who fail the test, even those who have passed all their required classes, will not receive a diploma. Instead, the state will provide them with training for a G.E.D., assistance in gaining admission to vocational schools or remedial courses designed to help them pass the test and receive a diploma.
"We are not allowing our children to leave high school equipped with the one thing we all agree will help them be successful in life, a high school diploma," said State Senator Frederica S. Wilson, a Miami Democrat and former elementary school principal who opposes the test.
"It doesn't speak well for the state of Florida to have schools administer a test where thousands of children fail," Ms. Wilson said. "It shows that Florida is failing its children."
The team by the way delivered 10 players to college and three to the NFL. They went 7 games without a team getting inside the 20.
How does this suggestion help Florida kids achieve? What a dumb a$$.
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