The public has sent 45,000 letters saying the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) should not be used to grade anyone, and now Florida Sen. Legg says “stop harping” about the FSA.
This gives me hope that our messages are being hear by some, and that some in the Florida State Legislature are all finally on the defensive and having to answer for their decisions, their votes, and they don’t like it one bit. We only need to look at Senator Legg’s scolding to his committee that they are “done” with the conversation on FSA testing and he essentially told the public that he’s tired of hearing from the 45,000 constituents that have written him in the committee asking that the FSA not be used against students teachers and our schools. That’s more evidence to me that it’s time to continue to put on the heat, it’s time for us to continue to advance.
As FundFloridaNow.org reported, “After decades of micro-managing public education, Legg claims ‘there’s nothing the legislature can do.‘”
Not all our Florida Senators agree with Legg, the Politico Florida reports that, “Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat who also heads the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, said he’s not satisfied. ‘This meeting today gave me no more comfort. In fact, it even gave me more questions about the process that was used, the conclusions that it came to'”.
Florida House Educational Committee Say Regarding Testing: No Opting Out! But should there be?
“So if you want to have your child learn another way or do something different, you always have the option to take them (out). School boards should not be … saying, ‘Well, okay’. There is NO okay!” ~ Florida Rep. Marlene O’Toole’s (R), Chairwoman, House Educational Committee
If parents, teachers, principals, superintendents or school boards ever questioned if Florida Law permitted parents to “opt out” their child from taking high-stakes standardized tests they got a extremely clear answer today during this morning’s Florida House Education Committee meeting. But should there be?
Commissioner Stewart shared two important points regarding opting out. The first that state law does not permit any opting out other than for very specific Exceptional Student Education (ESE). Commissioner Stewart also said that she felt that Legislators should be concerned, “that there would be individuals out there, that want to choose to not follow the law, because it is law that every student” (must be tested), Stewart went on to say, “it isn’t in law that it is student that wish to”. Commissioner Stewart, said she was not aware of any School Boards (Districts) they were permitting ‘opting out’.
This is when Chairwoman O’Toole’s stated, “You’re not allowed to do that (opt out) and keep your child in a public school“. O’Toole went on to say, “So if you want to have your child learn another way or do something different, you always have the option to take them out” (of public school). She then stated, “School boards should not be … saying, ‘Well, okay’. There is no okay.”
Then Chairwoman O’Toole confirmed with Commissioner Stewart that if asked if parents of children in Florida public schools “can you ‘opt out’”, Chairwoman O’Toole said, “then I am free to say, that is the law, public school, we must have a test, (unless there is some physical reason why not), that ‘opting out’ is not an option.” O’Toole then turned to the rest of the Educational Committee and asked, “Is that correct, everyone agree with that? Does anyone have a difference of opinion? Because that is what we have to say as a group I believe as we speak to people”. O’Toole then explained, “There are other schools”, (meaning non-public schools), she continued, “that would probably allow some other method, but that’s the last I heard.” Disappointingly no Florida House Educational Committee member responded differently.
What Rep. O’Toole essentially did today was get the entire Florida House Educational Committee to agree (by not objecting) that Florida does NOT permit parents or School Boards options for ‘opting out’ of any state mandated testing. Therefore it appears that the Florida House Educational Committee just affirmed that as a State Educational Committee they fully support state mandated high-stakes tests and that they have no intention to change laws not requiring high-stakes testing of our students. Now the important question— Why?
I would agree that Florida State laws have no ‘opt-out’ options for parents, but that is because these same Legislators are the State educational law makers that made it law to have these tests. Today it sounded like they were saying they have no options— they are the law makers that created and passed these very laws that do not permit ‘opting out’! It concerns me that we are being told by one of our state educational committees, “So if you want to have your child learn another way… take them out (of public school)”.
Parents would not be interested in opting their child out of these tests if these tests were being used for diagnostic purposes, and for improving student learning. Instead these tests are by law used punitively against our students, teachers and schools. These committees aren’t listening to public educators, and today seems to indicate they aren’t listening to parents either. If anyone knows who they are listening to, then we need to contact them and ask them to start advocating for our kids.
It is time for Florida to have in law “portfolio” and other assessment options for students at all school levels like we have for 3rd graders.
I had the great pleasure this week of visiting Rock Crusher Elementary and while I was there stopped by to see the incredible mural painted this summer. Jessica Collins the 19-year-old artist who is a University of South Florida sophomore, 2014 Lecanto High School of Art alumni, and former Rock Crusher Elementary School student spent more than 250 hours in the Rock Crusher Elementary School’s media center painting the two enormous murals that wrap around the walls of the library. The thought and details in each engaging scenes that include an underwater seascape, beach scene, mountains, forest, and even outer space. Miss Collins work was supported by the RCE parent-teacher organization. Thank you Miss Collins and RCE PTO!!
(click photos below for closer look)
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Yesterday Gayle Nobles, Director of Career and Technical and Adult Education and I attended the quarterly Community/School Advisory Council at Cypress Creek Academy (a Level 10 Juvenile Offender Correctional Center in Lecanto, Florida). I have the great privilege and honor of spending time at our schools and love sharing about the impressive work and accomplishments of our schools—and Cypress Creek is no exception. I will share with you just a preview of those accomplishments which I will share even more with you in a future post. Last year at Cypress Creek Academy school year we had 45 students who earned their high school diplomas or GED, the most ever—and we have three students currently in college and one 19 year old student who just earned his bachelor’s degree.
These great accomplishments are a testament of Principal Rob Cummins and his team of educators, the Facility Administrator and his team, Director Gayle Nobles and the commitment of the Citrus County School District, Superintendent and our Board.
Today I wanted to share with you one of the gifts and messages the students shared with us during the meeting.
Each Council member received this handmade flower, made by the students and they read the following message:
“Each of these flowers use to be a plain pieces of paper. It had no particular use and very well could have been tossed away and never’ missed. Someone took the time to transform this paper with no meaning into an object of beauty. This flower we share with you to remind you that our youth are much like these pieces of paper. Each of them have the ability to become something beautiful if someone just takes the time to be patient with them and help them with their transformation into something beautiful.“
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“The system was created for the work force we needed 100 years ago” ~ Laurene Powell Jobs
The Billionaires Club has been greatly concerned with our students’ education enough so to put their own money behind making formative change. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been working advocating for education.
Now, according toThe New York Times, Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Apple co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer Steve Jobs is also coming forward by initially committing $50 million to the advocacy organization she founded, The Emerson Collective. The Emerson Collective is an advocate for policies concerning education and immigration reform, social justice, and environmental conservation.
In an interview with the New York Times Mrs. Jobs said, “The system was created for the work force we needed 100 years ago”, she went on to say, “Things are not working the way we want it to be working. We’ve seen a lot of incremental changes over the last several years, but we’re saying, ‘Start from scratch.’ ”
Mrs. Jobs told the Times first assignment is named XQ: The Super School Project, the project will bring teams of educators, students, as well as leaders from other sectors, to develop highly effective public high school; altering school schedules, curriculums and technologies. Then during 2016 a group of judges will pick as many as 10 of the best ideas to fund.
This is not Mrs. Jobs first advocacy efforts for education, for years Mrs. Jobs funded College Track, which assisted economically disadvantaged students in the United States to apply for and be successful in college.
Apple has always had education at the core of their product development and so it is exciting that Mrs. Jobs will be taking a role in the future of our public schools. In addition of all the grade levels, it is high school that I feel needs an improvement in technology integration into curriculum. Mrs. Job’s project recognizes this and hopes to positively improve it.
I will be eagerly watching what XQ: The Super School Project comes up with for our students. Stay tune…
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Ray Darling is one great man that our students and community have much to thank him for, beginning with, the Upward Bound, a program of the Rotary clubs in Citrus County, now are starting, “The Ray Darling Upward Bound Scholarship“.
The public has sent 45,000 letters saying the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) should not be used to grade anyone, and now Florida Sen. Legg says “stop harping” about the FSA.
