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I appreciate the ping, as usual, summer.

I am grateful that here in Florida, we have a governor that takes the time to answer emails from his citizens. It says a lot about Jeb that he answered your question concisely and factually, without adding the usual politician's spin.

On this issue of testing, I have found standardized tests to be a valuable tool in evaluating my children's' progress, and they can be used very effectively in assessing the performance of the schools as well. My children have, at various times, been homeschooled, in private schools, and public schools, and they took standardized tests in all of those different situations. Private schools may not be required to administer these tests, but many do, and I highly recommend it. I would not consider sending my child to a school that did not.

I would actually not object to schools that receive voucher money being required to administer the FCAT to those students, since I have found it to be a very good test. This would impose no burden on the private school with regard to the content of their curriculum, except to encourage them to concentrate on the basic skills that are being tested for. I do not consider this to be an intrusion on the school's freedom to teach as they see fit.