Is Florida's education comish to cozy with big money types?

From Scathing Purple Musings

by Bob Sykes

Lee County superintendent of schools Joseph Burke was granted a guest column in this morning’s Naples Daily News. In the column, Burke details the nature and specifics of the disagreement between Florida’s educators and education commissioner Gerard Robinson:

…..the state convened a group of more than 300 educators from across Florida (a standards-setting committee) and then a reactor panel of superintendents from across the state to critically examine the current FCAT. When the dust settled, both groups recommended bringing the minimum standards up at the lower grade levels so they were more in line with those at high school.

We thought we were all set with the recommendations, but it appears Florida’s education commissioner has now decided to increase the high school cut scores. By making those adjustments, it’s not only going to adversely affect the alignment through all grade levels, but, more importantly, it is going to significantly increase the number of students not meeting the minimum graduation requirements.

To put this into perspective, by moving the cut scores up at ninth and 10th grade, it could potentially mean an additional 400 students not passing the FCAT. It was, and is still, the reactor panel’s position that the high school cut scores are where they need to be and don’t need to be adjusted.

What I want our community to know is that when the FCAT 2.0 results come out, it doesn’t mean our students are learning less. Quite the contrary, they are learning more. It may take a year or two for the results to reflect that academic growth, but I can assure you that our students, teachers and schools will be ready to meet — and exceed — those new academic standards.

Burke’s commentary is transportable to any Florida county. So why did Robinson disagree with so many educators?

Perhaps its because he’s too close to Jeb Bush and it should come as no surprise that he sided with Bush on FCAT. He was, afterall, one of his Chiefs for Change before he ever came to Florida. And Robinson was also on Bush’s Digital Learning Council. Jeffrey Solochek’s excellent piece in the St. Petersburg Times explored the idea that too many Florida legislators are far too cozy with charter schools. Perhaps it is time Floridians asked whether or not its education commissioner is too cozy with Bush and his financiers.

http://bobsidlethoughtsandmusings.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/is-gerard-robinson-too-cozy-with-jeb-bush-and-his-financiers/