Mike Thomas
Saving schools may be Jeb's 'devious plan'
by Mike Thomas, The Orlando Sentinel
...The reality of school accountability, much to the chagrin of the Democrats, is that Jeb may well be saving public education in Florida.
What he did was expose the dirty little secret of the school system. It was taking poor, minority kids and passing them all the way through high school whether they learned anything or not. Many walked out the door without knowing how to read or do basic math.
This was the result of a system dominated by teachers unions, entrenched bureaucrats, administrators-for-life and incompetent school boards. The convoluted logic when Jeb took over was that exposing the failings of inner-city schools with an F grade somehow was racist.
Don't stigmatize these kids by failing their school!
Don't stigmatize these kids by holding them back!
It was better to keep quiet and let these schools rot with neglect and waste thousands of young minds in the process.
The only people stigmatized by accountability are those in the education bureaucracy failing the kids.
The encouraging grades that came out Wednesday won't stop the critics of accountability.
They will say schools are teaching to the FCAT. Well, that must mean they are teaching kids how to read, write and do math because that is what it takes to pass the test.
They will say kids simply are getting better at taking the FCAT. I hope so. Everything in this life involves taking a standardized test, be it getting into college, joining the Marines or becoming a sergeant in the police department.
Test-taking is a valuable skill in this world and one that has not been taught to many minority children. This is the real reason behind the so-called cultural bias of testing.
Say what you will about our governor being an elitist, cut-taxes-for-the-rich Republican. Call him cheap for not putting more money in schools.
But I'd never seen so many people worried about whether poor black children could read and write until Jeb Bush took office.
Mike Thomas can be reached at mthomas@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5525.