Conundrum. Rick Scott seizes high ground, to explore legal options against Arne's "punitive" policy.
This is how Rick Scott plays the political game. I am very fearful he is going to come out of this smelling like roses.
This puts Charlie Crist in a pickle. If he opposes Scott on this he is supporting Arne Duncan's very very unpopular position that students just learning our language MUST take the very same test that all others take, and take it without a grace period allowed by Florida law. Our state law allows two years before an ELA student must take the full test.
This is the test that determines grades of schools and determines whether teachers will be fired because students don't test well.
If Crist doesn't speak out he may be seen as not supporting the president's policy, which is Arne's policy.
Gov. Rick Scott, in Miami, rips federal education standards that ‘punish’ diversity
Principal of Southside, Salvatore Schiavone, Gov. Rick Scott and Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, meet at Southside Elementary School, Wednesday, August 27, 2014. WALTER MICHOT / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Florida leaders and the U.S. Department of Education don’t agree on how to assess the test scores of students who are learning English.
On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott — in full campaign mode after an easy primary election victory the night before — promised to explore “every legal option” if the feds won’t bend on standards he contends ‘punish’ diverse schools. The governor traveled to downtown Miami to make the announcement at Southside Elementary School, where 41 percent of students are English-language learners.
In a worst-case scenario, schools across Florida could be deemed as “failing” under the current rules of the federal No Child Left Behind law. As a result, the state could lose autonomy over how it spends its education budget, and schools could be forced to restructure staff.
The announcement was the latest effort by the Republican governor to put education center stage — while also appealing to a key county’s multi-ethnic voters — in what is expected to be a tight governor’s race. Ahead of his reelection bid against Democratic rival Charlie Crist, Scott has also announced a historic increase in per-student spending and called for an investigation into the fairness of standardized tests.
Here is more about Scott's plan to pull in the vote.
Arne Duncan may allow Rick Scott to look very good to teachers and parents.
Gov. Rick Scott, talking with a student, and Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, are asking the U.S. Department of Education not to hold Florida schools and teachers accountable for English language learners until after two years of instruction.
LYNNE SLADKY | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAKELAND | Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday the state will review its legal options if the U.S. Department of Education refuses to reverse its decision that Florida cannot exclude test scores from English-language learners.
A Florida law was passed this year that students who are labeled English-language learners would attend two years of school in the United States before their test scores would count toward school grades.
However, the federal government's No Child Left Behind policy requires all students' scores to count. Federal education officials recently renewed Florida's No Child Left Behind waiver but said the state has to count English learners' scores right away.
This is going to play well for Scott I fear. The law goes against all common sense, so many will feel Scott is doing the right thing. Teachers are already angry at the policy of the Dept of Education that puts their careers in jeopardy. I despise Rick Scott, but even I can see he is playing this brilliantly.
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