Tavares, FL Aug. 28, 2014
Yesterday evening the Lee County, FL School Board voted 3 to 2 to drop out of the Florida Education Standards (aka Common Core renamed) “assessments” (or exams) and develop their own.
This is the first such action of a School District opting out of Common Core derived tests that I have seen in any national reports:
- They will still follow the Florida standards for teaching, but develop their own localized assessments.
- Hundreds of anti-Common Core activists were at yesterday’s meeting.
- The School District Supt. said their state school funding of $280-million could be cut by the state, and students could be denied graduation certificates by the FL State government.
- A TV station posted the risks defined by the Schools Attorney (see below)
- The issue could become a campaign issue for Gov. Scott vs Charlie Crist
- The issue could end up involving the FL State legislators.
- Many Issues will need to be worked out and Fiscal Rangers will monitor and report future actions.
View the short August 27, 2014 video (or skip it – it is only some anti-Common Core activists chanting,) then scroll DOWN to read the text.
The Lee County School Supt. says they will continue teaching the “Florida standards” but just won’t have kids take the FL State administered tests.
“It is unclear what opting the entire district out of the state-mandated testing will mean in certain areas, including funding, but School Board attorney Keith Martin told board members there are "no immediate effects outlined in the statutes."
He added that funding could be withheld for failure to comply with the laws, and Gov. Rick Scott could remove officers, including board members, from office.
Graham and the district now will have to work to develop an alternative assessment method for the district.”
A Naples area TV station posted an article with a letter from the School attorney listing the possible effects of the District option out of statewide assessements – they had this when they made the decision:
A Lee County area NBC station filed this story. <<< Includes three videos
In a second article published today (Aug. 28) , the School Supt. Nancy Graham said the decision could affect funding:
“For the school district, the stakes are massive. By opting out, the state has the option of withholding more than $280 million in funding and withholding diplomas from this year’s class of high school seniors. For teachers, there’s uncertainty in how they’ll be judged – evaluations are based in part on student test scores – and how their performance pay will be impacted.”
“How the state responds is likely to reach the highest levels of Florida’s Legislature, as well as the executive branch. Graham said she’d be “very surprised” if it doesn’t become a campaign issue in the gubernatorial race between Republican incumbent Rick Scott and Democratic nominee Charlie Crist. Withholding millions of dollars and telling kids they can’t graduate could be an unpalatable move for Scott, giving supporters of the decision hope that the state won’t hammer Lee County.”
The Washington Post blog picked up the story:
This issue will take awhile to work out since this is the first School District Board to vote to NOT take State prescribed tests.
I will follow the issue and post periodic updates. At this time, there is no related action being considered by the Lake County School Board, but you never know.
Vance
