By choosing to fight a court ruling making students' FCAT score sheets available to parents, Gov. Bush raises further questions about his education priorities.

By fighting parents who want to understand why their children did poorly on Florida's big test, Gov. Jeb Bush has stepped into the mire of his own educational crusade. In effect, he is saying the FCAT can't be bothered by those who want to learn from it.

Betty Shields of Largo had learning in mind when she asked to see the score sheets from her godson's FCAT. He had failed the 10th grade test, which is of considerable consequence because high school students must pass it to graduate. After the state refused access, she sued, and a judge last week said state law requires education records be shared with parents.

"Providing parents or guardians reasonable access to such materials, especially where their child has "failed' the test, does no violence to the integrity of the testing process," wrote Leon Circuit Judge Janet E. Ferris.

Bush and the Department of Education, however, pledge to continue fighting the ruling, and they are resisting other parents who want their children's tests. They said disclosing the tests to parents would force the state to spend $16-million creating new test questions every year. The governor might want to compare notes with Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, who told a reporter last year he favored disclosure, adding, "I believe the cost is worth it."

The FCAT is fast becoming the emblem for flawed school reform in Florida, and this latest tug-of-war shows why. The test itself is generally well-crafted and helps provide valuable information about how well students in grades 3-10 are performing in reading, writing and math. But it shouldn't be used as a quick political scorecard on how teachers and schools are doing their jobs, and it can't help students improve unless teachers and parents are involved.

The governor has stubbornly refused to concede these points, which paints his A+

Education Plan into some unworkable corners:

-- Decades of international education research confirm that students' performance is tied to the income and education of their parents, which means the FCAT alone might give a distorted view of how hard teachers worked or a school performed. Bush's response: He mocks the research as though its intention is to establish lower standards. Result: Florida's "school grades" strongly correlate to the socioeconomic status of students.

-- The FCAT assesses three subjects and is given to only half the students in elementary and high schools. It ignores such areas as science, social studies, physical education, music and vocational education. Bush's response: These are the "Sunshine Standards," and we don't have time to test for everything. Result: School grades reflect only a fraction of what schools do.

-- The financial stakes related to FCAT are so great that schools hold pep rallies, hand out T-shirts and give cash rewards to students. The tests and their preparation consume so much class time that some parents of elementary students complain their children are not exposed to other subjects and are stressed to the point of sickness. Bush's response: The tests, he told the Tampa Tribune, are like broccoli: "I learned to put cheese and hot sauce on it; it made it better." Result: Parents and students grow cynical.

By 2005, Florida will have paid testing companies $200-million for the FCAT, which may explain the governor's defensiveness. For four straight years, the state has scrambled to change its grading formula for schools. Yet each year, schools have been branded with F's or awarded bonuses for A's, and the governor has acted as though each grading formula was equally valid.

In the meantime, he consistently resists the advice of professional educators, and he dismisses critics by saying they are not interested in accountability. In the most recent gubernatorial debate, he even tried to portray himself as "courageous" for ignoring what amount in many cases to valid complaints.

Ignoring those complaints, and fighting the ruling making FCAT score sheets available to parents, makes sense only if you consider the state's big test more important than the students taking it. Tests are still supposed to measure learning so that students can grow from them. Betty Shields, who passed away in November, knew that. Most other parents do as well.

Back to Opinion

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright

From the Times
Opinion page