Judge blasts state, local schools in 3rd-grade retention case
A judge Friday sharply criticized state and Central Florida school leaders for failing to follow the law when they barred from fourth grade some youngsters who'd refused to answer questions on Florida's required third-grade reading test.
Their conduct caused "injury which will continue as long as the children are not in the appropriate grade in the appropriate school," wrote Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers of Leon County. "Grade 3 students with no reading deficiency should not be retained, but should be promoted."
Her 52-page order was especially critical of the Orange County School Board, which she said acted in a "particularly blatant, arbitrary and capricious" way to daughter of Michelle Rhea, a third grader at Dommerich Elementary School in Maitland last school year.
Rhea is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit filed earlier this month on behalf of 14 students in six school districts, including Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. The lawsuit challenged sections of Florida's third-grade retention law.
Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-third-grade-retention-judge-ruling-20160826-story.html