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2 state senators want Winn fired over FCAT graders

The education chief defends the system, even though 64 percent of graders didn't meet the contract's terms.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 17, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Florida Education Commissioner John Winn ought to resign and the state should take over scoring standardized tests because most temporary graders working for a private contractor are unqualified, two Democratic state senators said Friday.

A review of 2,947 employment files showed 1,845, or 64 percent, lacked degrees or teaching experience in subjects they were grading on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as required by the contract, said Sens. Les Miller and Walter "Skip" Campbell.

For some of the FCAT graders, their only other work experience was in jobs unrelated to education, including hair styling, pizza delivery, store clerk, janitor and popping corn at a movie theater.

"We think this is an F - a failure of the system," said Campbell of Tamarac.

He said Winn's resignation would restore the FCAT's credibility and bring "true accountability to government at the same high level that we demand of our schools."

Winn said he would resign only if the state Board of Education requests it. The board, appointed by Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, hired Winn, a former Bush staffer.

It would cost the state many millions more than the $86.5-million now paid to CTB/McGraw-Hill for a three-year contract to administer the FCAT, Winn said. He said the California company can do the job more cheaply by using the same facilities, equipment and staff to handle tests in 20 states.

The commissioner previously accused Campbell, a candidate for attorney general, and Miller, the Senate Democratic leader from Tampa now running for Congress, of going on a political fishing expedition.

The senators, who sued the state to get the graders' employment records, said they are performing their legislative oversight duties. They said it is Winn who politicized the issue.

"There's no question that something does smell fishy, and the stink is coming from the executive branch," Miller said.

Winn acknowledged that some FCAT graders failed to meet the specialization criteria to score written responses to reading, writing and mathematics questions. All claim to have at least a bachelor's degree as required, but no checks are made to verify those credentials, he said.

The commissioner announced plans Monday to monitor CTB/ McGraw-Hill for compliance with the criteria starting with next year's tests. The state also will develop guidelines to avoid any misunderstanding about acceptable education backgrounds for each subject.

Winn continued to downplay the issue's importance.

"It's not the work experience that matters," he said. "There's no data that shows us that teachers perform any better than people with other backgrounds."

CTB/McGraw-Hill officials joined Winn at a news conference to outline training, testing and monitoring already done to make sure tests are correctly graded. Each response is scored by two graders. If they disagree, a third person reviews it.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 06:48:00]