After reviewing HB 7019, I have concerns that it will not be able to meet its goals...It fails to address the shortcomings of FCAT....FCAT is not a true indicator of student achievement...My 6th grade student is gifted, active in scouts, made all county chorus, is on the math team, reads at a post graduate level, has a great teacher and additional enrichment at home, but he consistently scores poorly on FCAT tests...Holistic grading is subjective and therefore inconsistent at best. Basing student success according to subgroups could be problematic if civil rights groups get wind of it, and FCAT doesn't currently test all students in all subjects, therefore required expansions will have to be made, costing tax payers millions in additional spending...Current FCAT testing takes two to three weeks out of our students' instruction time...It's hard for me to understand how reducing the instruction time by 5 to 6 additional weeks will benefit students...
The most troubling aspect of the bill is it's lack of funding for our 'effective' and 'highly effective' teachers...I suspect that local school districts will be left with no choice but to rate it's teachers as 'unsatisfactory' or 'needs improvement' until such time as funding from Tallahassee is approved...It is hard to imagine our legislators could have allowed this omission to go unnoticed and does little to instill confidence among the educational community...
Can you please explain how teachers, student, parents and administrators are supposed to overcome these challenges and hardships...I'd also like to know your reasons for voting to make this bill law...I've always believed that you were one of the few politicians qualified to make good choices in matters of education...It was your support for this bill that encouraged me to look closely at the text instead of relying on reports and accusations from this bill's detractors...While the bill does have some improvements (I do agree that student performance should be considered when evaluating teacher effectiveness), the reality of how this bill is likely to effect our childrens' education seems to fall short of it's intended purpose(s)...
This bill fails to provide adequate practices for evaluating student achievement...
This bill fails to encourage, but rather, discourages teachers from educating in Florida public schools...
This bill fails to reduce costs associated with education, instead, it increases the tax burden by unnecessary expansion of a poorly designed standardized test...
Christopher Phillips
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