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CARY DAVISThey call the FCAT unfair, but spelling mistakes on their signs may fuel its supporters.
LAND O'LAKES - About 15 students from Land O'Lakes High protested the state's controversial FCAT test Friday outside the headquarters of the Pasco County School District.
The students were unhappy because some of their number, who had passing grades and sufficient credits, will not be allowed to graduate because they failed the FCAT test.
"It's not fair that we can go to school for 12 years, do everything we're supposed to do, make all the grades, all the credits, and because of one test, we can't get a diploma and we can't start college," said one of the protesters, Sara Hanson, 18, an aspiring nurse who failed the FCAT. "It's really sad."
But the protesters may have inadvertently given ammunition to those who support the test and strict academic standards.
One sign, that apparently was supposed to read, "Ban FCAT," said, "Band FCAT" instead.
Another, blasting Gov. Jeb Bush for his support of the test, spelled the governor's last name "Busch" - like the beer.
Hanson, who helped make the signs, said the mistakes were not intentional.
"I don't know," she said. "We made the signs, and they were probably just, like, I don't know."
At any rate, she said, the point was to protest the unfair consequences of an unfair test.
Among the 15 or so student protesters were four seniors who failed the FCAT, Hanson said. Several relatives of the students joined in the afternoon rally on the side of U.S. 41. Their signs drew supportive honks from passing cars.
The protesters were particularly concerned about the fate of Land O'Lakes senior Jessica Worthington, a two-time state girls wrestling champion who hopes to compete on the next level at Cumberland College in Kentucky.
Worthington, an honor roll student, failed the math portion of the FCAT. She fears her hopes of earning a wrestling scholarship may be dashed because of her performance on the test.
"I don't know what's going to happen," she said.