Last fall, Gov. Ron DeSantis promised to help public education, not hurt it. He broke that promise.
Seven months ago, DeSantis claimed that he would end high-stakes school tests. Last month, he signed Senate Bill 1048, the vehicle to supposedly overhaul the system.
In fact, nothing important will change. A standardized test still will determine promotion from third grade and graduation from high school.
Test scores still will determine school grades, which will resume in 2023-24 under the new tests. Those grades will continue to determine everything from teacher bonuses to home prices.
Bob Schaeffer is director of FairTest. It was founded in 1985 to counter what the group considers the misuse of standardized tests. Schaeffer moved to Florida two decades ago, just as the state’s testing obsession began under former Gov. Jeb Bush.
Recent headlines that proclaim the end of standardized testing, Schaeffer vented, are “a total fabrication.” SB 1048, which DeSantis called “groundbreaking,” is “simply rearranging the deck chairs.”
The legislation ends the Florida Standards Assessments, which began as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT. The new acronym is BEST — Benchmark for Excellent Student Thinking. But schools still must give two interim tests before the end-of-year exam.
“By simply raising the bar,” Schaeffer said, “politicians think that teachers and students will magically jump higher.”
Marie-Claire Leman’s children attend school in Leon County. Writing in the Tallahassee Democrat, Leman said legislators could “keep up the pretense” of less testing because a previous change — never implemented — would have required even more testing.
FairTest, Schaeffer said, doesn’t oppose standardized tests when states use them “to promote education and testing.” In Florida, however, the tests carry what he called “high-stakes consequences.”
That’s because testing is more about politics than education. The FCAT went through several iterations. One year, the Legislature gamed the system to avoid a dramatic drop in A-rated schools.
Florida has had four Republican governors since the testing obsession began. Not one has had children who took the FCAT or its successors.
The underwhelming effect of SB 1048 further reinforces the notion that Republicans want to undermine public education in Florida. In its place would arise a supposedly free-market system, “whatever that is,” Schaeffer said.
Consider that Florida does not require schools that receive corporate-financed vouchers to operate under the same testing regimen as traditional public schools. At those schools, Republicans say, parents can determine whether their children are succeeding.
Here’s a more likely explanation: State-ordered test results might show that those students actually aren’t performing better than their public-school peers.
Consider also that the voucher program began as a supposed lifeline for low-income families whose children were trapped in “failing schools.” The emphasis was on minority students.
Last year, however, DeSantis and the Legislature again expanded voucher eligibility. Families of four earning almost $100,000 can qualify. That’s a long way from poverty.
Oh, and private voucher schools also will get less oversight of how they spend money that otherwise would have gone to public schools. Republicans required a state audit every three years, not annually.
Meanwhile, the Legislature has raised accountability for public schools based on falsehoods.
Teachers can’t discuss gender identity or sexual orientation through third grade, which they aren’t doing now. They can’t teach critical race theory, which they aren’t doing now.
Two new bills, though, could allow parents to sue teachers and school districts over the tiniest rumor about discussions of gender or race. According to the teachers union’s attorney, taxpayers would have to pay the parents’ legal fees even the district won.
Continued harassment — testing is part of that — drives teachers out of the profession. If it continues, the exodus will further hurt the reputation of Florida’s public schools.
Eleven years ago, Georgia ended its mandatory test for high school graduation. According to the state’s education department, the graduation rate has since risen 14 points.
The state now uses other methods to determine graduation. “Sending someone off without a high diploma,” Schaeffer said, “is not good for the child or society.”
Last fall, the union backed DeSantis when he claimed to want testing reform. As Leman wrote, however, SB 1048 amounted to “bait and switch.” Another year, another hurt on public education.
Contact Randy Schultz at randy@bocamag.com.
