FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gloria Pipkin
October 20, 2004 850-265-6438
850-303-1584 (cell)
Damien Filer
850-562-5373
850-212-1858
(cell)
Education
Advocates Plead with Gov. Bush to “Have a Heart”
and Suspend
Penalties under Clashing State and Federal Assessments
Teachers, Parents, and Elected Officials
Urge Florida Leadership to Suspend FCAT and No Child Left Behind Assessment
Tests in Wake of Hurricane Impact
Tallahassee, FL – A coalition of education advocates is calling upon
Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature to “Have a Heart” and suspend
public school assessment tests under clashing state and federal standards in
Florida this year due to the impact of the recent hurricanes. The issue will be at the forefront of debate
when the legislature convenes in Tallahassee for a special session in December
focused on storm relief.
“After
all Florida families have been through with these storms we are pleading with
Governor Bush to have a heart and not put them through any more,” said Geoffrey
Kashdan, a 37-year veteran teacher at Eagles Landing Middle School in Boca
Raton.
Of
primary concern is that, if FCAT penalties are enforced, a disproportionate
number of third graders would be held back this year due to disruptions caused
by the historic 2004 hurricane season.
Seniors must also pass the FCAT exam in order to graduate.
Yesterday
Florida leaders announced a plan whereby a school’s letter grade might be
adjusted in cases where the school can prove a dramatic adverse effect due to
the storms. However the response from
state officials falls short of any real compromise, with all exams being conducted
as planned and punitive measures remaining intact.
Gloria Pipkin, President of
the Florida Coalition for Assessment Reform (FCAR) said “This proposal will do
nothing to alleviate the stresses on children.
This supposed concession applies only to schools that have scored well
in the past; the tests will go on as usual, and the consequences for third
graders and seniors still apply.”
The
Florida A-plus Plan and federal No Child Left Behind Law have been widely
criticized, in large part because they utilize conflicting assessment standards. As a result more than 800 Florida schools
awarded an ‘A’ under Jeb Bush’s system received failing labels under the No
Child Left Behind law.
“Governor
Bush should suspend all high stakes testing this year in Florida given the
hurricanes’ impact on school children and their families. But these assessment tests already had
significant problems that need to be addressed, and this represents an
opportunity for state leaders to acknowledge and focus on those issues,” said
Kashdan.
FCAR
and national education advocacy group Communities for Quality Education (CQE),
along with numerous teachers, parents and elected officials have begun pushing
Governor Bush and state leaders to suspend this year’s tests, or reject the
penalties they impose.
On
October 14th, State Senator Gary Siplin publicly urged Governor Bush
to suspend this year’s FCAT exams. “The
exams are punitive, and our children in our schools will pay the price. This
examination should be suspended this year so that our school systems can
recover," he said.
Siplin’s
plea followed the Volusia County School Board’s announcement that they were
seeking relief from penalties associated with both the state and federal
assessment tests. "People are
still reeling and suffering from what they went through," School Board
member Vicki Bumpus said. "To be punitive to schools or students is an
unfair burden after all we've been through."
The
Palm Beach County School Board is also publicly opposed to any punitive
measures imposed by this year’s high stakes testing. Like their counterparts in Volusia County, they have requested
that this year’s exams be used only for diagnostic purposes.
Gov.
Jeb Bush has delayed FCAT testing for schools that have lost the most class
time, but he has been inflexible on the subject of accountability
standards. He recently visited
Pensacola Beach Elementary School and praised students for their “resiliency
and ingenuity” in coping with the hurricanes.
Gloria
Pipkin, President of FCAR, believes that Governor Bush is playing politics with
Florida’s children. “For Governor Bush
to praise kids who have struggled through tragedy on the one hand, and insist
on penalizing them as a result of these devastating storms on the other, makes
absolutely no sense to parents, teachers, or students. Florida families have been through enough
without the penalties imposed under the state and federal assessments,” she
said.
Last
year almost 90% of Florida’s public schools failed to meet the standards
imposed by NCLB. To add insult to
injury, according to a May 2004 report by the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, No Child Left Behind is costing the state of Florida $1.44 billion
per year.
The NCLB law has a provision
whereby states can request a deferral of penalties for a year in the case of
natural disaster. “There is no question
it would be appropriate for Governor Bush and the legislature to request
deferral of these sanctions,” said Kashdan.
“The academic and emotional stress experienced by students, coupled with
the fiscal impact already imposed on Florida by these hurricanes, signifies a
need for state leaders to utilize the deferral provision granted through No
Child Left Behind.”
The Florida Education
Association, parents and advocates have added their voices to a rising chorus
of support for suspending high stakes testing penalties this year. John Perry, a fifth-grade teacher in
Hillsborough County says “we are not attacking high stakes testing directly,
but rather, the hard-hearted policy that says we will hold schools and kids
“accountable” even when natural disasters traumatize and disrupt lives.”
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