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Blame crisis on FCAT obsession
Letter to the editor
Bradenton Herald
July 11
R.e. “To
end failure, start with parents,” 7/5
Karl C. Wehr thinks “Our Manatee County public school system has a crisis on its
hands.” He’s right. There is a crisis. But not the one Wehr thinks.
The crisis is our unquestioning faith in a secret test called the FCAT. Wehr
claims FCAT proves that “more than 70 percent of any segment of the student
population is performing at below grade level in reading and math.” What bunk!
How does Wehr or anyone else really know what the FCAT shows? It’s pure faith.
Which gets to the really irksome part. Wehr takes a departure from the usual
FCAT faith-based hysteria which focuses on blaming educators for the “problem”.
This isn’t enough for Wehr, and apparently, the Manatee County School Board.
They need more scapegoats, so they are putting parents in the crosshairs under
the guise of a program to help them.
Wehr states that “The general consensus is that academic success is in large
part based on the student's home environment and home guidance.” Ok. But he
neglects to mention the irrefutable evidence that standardized test scores are
in large part based on the student’s socio-economic status!
Wehr tells parents, “Stop the ‘blame game.’ Your child's success is your
responsibility; assume it.” Well, how about if Wehr and the rest of the
faith-in-FCAT crowd stop the blame game and assume responsibility for
investigating solutions to the underlying social and economic inequities that
lead to poor FCAT scores?
Yes, Mr. Wehr, there is a crisis. It is a crisis of head-in-the-sand blind faith
in a secret test and total ignorance of the larger forces at play in children’s
lives.
John L. Perry
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