Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

Did you know that soon every Florida High School student will have to take and pass a chemistry End-of-Course test before they can graduate? Has Florida gone too far with its high-stakes test, the FCAT? Many parents, school administrators and teachers, including myself, believe that it has. When the FCAT was first introduced to replace the High School Competency Test, as a teacher myself, I was a firm supporter of the test. Yet, as the years have gone by and I have seen the unending changes to the test on almost a yearly basis, including the recent increases to the passing scores on the reading and stricter grading criteria for the writing tests, I have begun to question its continued use. This is one reason why I am running for the Florida House of Representatives.

I DO support the concept of teacher accountability. But I also believe that everyone in the system should be held accountable from the students all the way up to the legislature. We must all work together to prepare our children for productive, fulfilling futures in Florida. The state has provided teachers with standards and benchmarks of what should be taught in each classroom. I believe that school administrators should give teachers the autonomy to teach this curriculum using their own methods and curriculum and then test them at the end of the year. These tests could then be graded by teachers and the results reported to principals and parents. It is a waste of money to pay outside vendors to do what teachers could be doing themselves and would actually like to do so they could get immediate feedback. If principals cannot trust teachers to give their own tests and report their findings, these teachers should not be working in our schools.

I want our schools to focus more on providing learning environments that allow each student to reach their personal best and not be constantly compared to other students. Not all students will attend college, for multiple reasons, some of which might include: lack of interest, lack of fortitude and commitment, medical issues, or social issues just to list a few. Our schools need to prepare these students for the job market by providing more vocational educational programs instead of placing 100% of our students on a college track. This type of system is unrealistic and irresponsible and increases some students' lack of interest in school, thus increasing our already too high dropout rate. These are the students who are still being "Left Behind' despite the federal government's desire not to lose them.

If elected to the legislature, I would propose, at the very least, to stop increasing passing scores. I would also support that the tests not undergo any further changes or additions for a period of time. We need more K-12 teachers in Tallahassee who are in the "trenches' teaching the FCAT to help make decisions about our educational policies. Please allow me to represent you, we need to prepare our children for the 21st century and not merely teach them how to take tests.

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