It's time the FCAT ran it's course

From the Pensecola News Journal's editorial board

Gov. Rick Scott says he understands that education is critical to economic development, underscoring his legislative request to restore $1 billion in funding this year after cropping $1.3 billion from school budgets last year.

Given growth in the number of students, the "increase" might be a fiscal wash. But at least it's not another decrease.

What has helped focus Scott's attention on the education budget? Other, that is, than the constant urging by business and state leaders to not let Florida's schools fall behind other states, which happen to also be Florida's competitors for new jobs?

Perhaps it was that by at least one annual measure, Florida is starting to fall behind.

Last week, the annual state ranking by Education Week, the non-profit publisher of Education Week magazine and website, showed that after years of improvement, performance by the state's schools is sliding. The slide was tied to falling student performance and budget cuts.

In just four years, Florida's schools had soared from 31st place to fifth, a remarkable rise. But now, according to the rankings, Florida has plummeted from fifth nationally to 11th. That still puts the state ahead of the curve — Florida got a C-plus, above the national average of a C — but the momentum is worrisome.

The ranking is based on factors that include K-12 performance, standards, assessment and accountability, and how well schools are financed.

Reports on the rankings noted an interesting paradox: Florida gets high marks for standards, assessment and accountability practices. But weakening student performance reminds us that there's more to education than that.

We wonder if Florida's increasing focus on the FCAT — driving teachers to "teach to the test" — could be hurting how our students compare in a world that doesn't bow before our state's test. If so, the increasingly stringent adherence to the FCAT could have the perverse effect of rewarding Florida schools for educating students in ways that hurt them outside the state.

Yes, that's speculation. But it's not speculation that the best jobs in the future will go to the people with the best skills, or who are best able to acquire those skills. Good schools are where that happens.

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