Statement by Gov Jeb Bush Re the 2002 FL Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) [and] School Grades

www.myflorida.com ^ | June 12, 2002 | Jeb Bush

[summer]

Gov Jeb Bush with FL students.

Statement by Governor Jeb Bush Regarding the 2002 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) School Grades

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 12, 2002

Contact:
Elizabeth Hirst
(850) 488-5394

"This year fifty-six percent of Florida's schools earned an "A" or a "B". And that is good news. As we continue to strive for excellence and higher accountability in our schools we also see where our resources and assistance are needed most. Our schools and students need all the support and help we can offer, but setting the bar too low will only condemn them to a future with few opportunities.

"Annual student learning gains were used for the first time ever to determine this year's school grades. This approach is an essential part of the A+ Plan, and allows parents and teachers to see that children are learning a year's worth of knowledge in a year's time. Parents and teachers will also be able to ensure that a child is getting the help they need before the frustration of failure sets in and our children give up on learning.

"We also announced the Assistance Plus program today. Through this new program, we will work with local districts to ensure that training and resources are targeted to the students and struggling schools that need it most.

"For too long we accepted the status quo in our schools and didn't demand accountability and results as a measure of success. That changed with the implementation of the A+ Plan. Our schools have met the challenge of higher standards, and I am confident that they will continue to meet that challenge as we enter this phase of the A+ Plan."

[summer]

FYI. Also, from this St. Petersburg Times article:

… The system has changed over the years, but never more so than this year. Grades still are based on scores from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores, but now the state also measures student progress from one year to the next.

..."The bar was raised this year . . . that was the major change," said Hillsborough school superintendent Earl Lennard. "They're making progress. But the progress was not fast enough to keep them out of the F category."

..."It's better than what we had in 1999. It's a pretty sophisticated system," said Carolyn Herrington, director of the Florida Education Policy Studies at Florida State University. "Now we should just leave it alone for a wh

[summer]

For index.

[summer]

The last quote in reply #1 should have read: ...."Now we should just leave it alone for a while."

[summer]

FYI. :)

[summer]

A ping from sensitive, kind-hearted me -- aka your favorite Jeb "thug." LOL... :)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Accountability, what a concept!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

this am i got to hear bill mcbride on 970 wfla out of tampa and he was trashing jeb over the results and you know what his solution is dont you? ready your going to be shocked he wants to raise taxes. the democratic answer for everything

[Joe Brower]

Click on the above portrait of our awesome governor's smiling face for a whole bunch of great pics of Jeb!

Please feel free to link to and use these freely to spread the good word!

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks for the ping =^)

[section9]

And the teachers' union and the beauracracy hate Jeb for it.

They want nothing more than to see Reno take office and take apart the A+ system so that they don't have to be accountable to the public anymore. My wife is a teacher, and she dislikes Jeb intensely. She likes GW, btw., but I can't get her to break dat Ol' Time Religion.

Ah well, perhaps a Second Term for Jeb will cure what ails her.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Mo1]

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[floriduh voter]

I believe that was McLawyer's first radio appearance on 970. I turned off my radio when Jack Harris announced MB was gonna be on. Taxing and spending do not educate. The implementation of great ideas educate. The cost of great ideas? Nothing. The results: priceless.

[FreeTally]

I think one of the best things about the FCAT is that it reveals the schools who are just giving out grades and teaching dumbed-down ciriculum. It was in the news last week when these results tsarted to come out that at one school in my area, which is heavily minority, had a dozen or so children who had received A's and B's who were going to be held back a year because they didn't score high enough on the test to move on. The administrators were on TV saying, "The law permits us in special circumcstances to let children move on who didn't score high enough" and other things. I'm not sure what will happen, but the local TV news didn't go and ask the obvious types of questions like "how are students getting A's and B's and they can't pass the basic test?".

The FCAT exposes this, and the teacher's union hates it for that reason alone.

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for the ping Summer.

[Clemenza]

The good news is, the teacher's unions (as opposed to individual teachers) are HATED by parents and have zero influence outside of fundraising for liberal Dems.

[Clemenza]

Natty Bump-o!

[dalebert]

Bump for Jeb

[mafree]

GO JEB!!

[MeekOneGOP]

Bush bump !

[summer]

My wife is a teacher, and she dislikes Jeb intensely.

That's interesting, Chris, because teachers I know do not dislike him intensely, but, they are truly misinformed about everything he has done in education. Confusion seems to be the operative word here, at least in my experience.