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Blog: FCAR
Speakout
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FCAT turns schools into "Testing
Sweatshops"
By Paul A. Moore
This was the first day of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, the dreaded
FCAT. To be in the schoolhouse today was to realize just how much Jeb Bush has
transformed our public schools. They're really just testing sweatshops now and
the children trapped inside labor to no useful end. They're like guinea pigs on
a treadmill. How did it come to this?
Maybe the life of Gov. Bush provides some insight. Of course, Jeb Bush was born
into one of the most powerful and privileged families in America. As a child he
wanted for nothing and enjoyed summers in Kennebunkport. Educationally speaking,
he received prestigious private schooling, the Greenwich pedigree. He spent much
of his senior year in high school in Mexico on a work-study program. In Mexico
he met his future wife Columba and began mastering the Spanish language, a skill
that has helped make him a very effective businessman and politician.
Eventually Jeb, Columba and their three children settled in Miami. They sent the
children to the exclusive Gulliver Prep Academy. Gulliver Prep and
Ransom-Everglades are the two most exclusive private schools in Miami-Dade
County. The student-to-teacher ratio is ideal and the kids sit in small classes
and look forward to learning experiences like field trips to Switzerland. The
parents and their children can choose from classes like "Magic Realism" where
they read the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Salmon Rushdie and Toni Morrison
or "The Chains That Bind Us" based on works of Tolstoy, Kafka and Camus. The
chains that bind their public school counterparts, like FCAT testing, never
intrude on their world.
Jeb Bush ran for governor for the first time in 1994. He came very close but
Lawton Chiles beat him by less than two percentage points. The fact that Bush
got only 4% of the Black vote was probably the difference. Jeb realized that
when asked during the campaign what a Bush Administration would do for Black
Floridians it was unwise to have answered, "Probably nothing."
So in his second run for Florida's top job, Jeb set out to repair his
relationship with the Black community. He got together with T. Willard Fair and
established the first charter school in Florida in 1996. They set their school
up near Liberty City and called it Liberty Charter School. In a paper
co-authored by Bush and Fair called A New Lease On Learning: Florida's First
Charter School they promised the school "will be different from other public
schools in many ways. For one, the total student body and class sizes will be
small to maintain a human, loving environment. In addition, it will focus much
more on character and discipline then (sic) most public schools. Our children
will know the difference between right and wrong. The curriculum will reflect
this with games, exercises and discussions about virtues such as honesty and
integrity."
Sincere or not, the Liberty Charter School proved to be an effective campaign
device. In the 1998 election Jeb Bush got 17% of the Black vote and swamped
Buddy McKay to become the governor of Florida. Shortly after taking office, Bush
severed his ties with Liberty and appointed T. Willard Fair to the Florida
Department of Education.
Since he became the Governor of all of Florida's parents and their children his
attitude toward public education has been puzzling. It's as if he does not feel
like the education he received was any good. It's like he feels his children
were shortchanged because they were not tested incessantly. It's as if he really
did not believe that it was important to keep classes small at Liberty Charter
"to maintain a human, loving environment." In fact, it seems like Jeb Bush has
determined to maintain an inhumane and hateful environment in the public
schools.
But it is probably unfair to say that Jeb Bush dislikes all our children.
Recently Fred Grimm, a columnist for the Miami Herald, reported that Bush took
time from the business of the State to text message one high school senior,
inviting the young man to hangout with him if he visited Tallahassee. Problem is
Myron Rolle goes to school up in New Jersey. Rolle is one of the most sought
after high school football players in the nation and Gov. Bush was just doing
his part to boost the football program at FSU.
My son is not a football star and he has not heard from the Governor yet. He is
one of the Florida 10th graders taking the FCAT this week at Barbara Goleman
High School. It's near to Miami Carol City High, where I have taught now for 23
years. I'm sure Patrick did his best on the test. But I paused to wonder what he
and the children I teach have done to suffer the wrath of this powerful man. I
can't think of any real difference except the Bush family is very rich and these
kid's families are not.
There's a whole lot of us who are not rich though and I'm going to talk to other
parents and teachers about electing a new governor in November who will break
completely with the policies of Jeb Bush.
Paul A. Moore
United Teachers of Dade
Miami, FL
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