The Lee County School Board’s effort to opt-out of state testing has hit a rough patch. However, anti-high stakes testing momentum has continued to grow throughout the rest of the Sunshine State since Lee County’s historic vote last month.
Lee County’s school board members are weighing their options now. Last month, the district became the first in Florida to opt-out of state mandated assessments and tests for K-12 students.
But, just a week later board members reversed course. Mainly because there was no plan in place and staff worried there could be serious repercussions hurting both teachers and students.
But, Lee school board member Don Armstrong recently tried again. This time he asked members to consider creating an independent task-force that would create the policy for an opt-out.
“We owe it to the students of Lee County to do this,” Armstrong told board members. “We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to everybody because we do work for the people.”
The effort failed, but Lee County Superintendent Nancy Graham said her staff is working diligently to create a plan. She said she’s making sure the local movement against high stakes and disruptive testing continues.
“We are very clear that Lee County has stepped out,” she said. “And I commend this community because we have put the conversation in the forefront. We absolutely have and I don’t want anyone to think it is going to get lost, because it’s not.”
While the future of opting out is currently unclear in Lee County, the movement is definitely visible in other parts of the state.
The Gainesville Sun reports an Alachua County kindergarten teacher announced she’s going to risk her job by refusing to give standardized tests to her students.
Also this week, Brevard County School Board members, teachers and parents criticized the state’s standardized testing culture during a meeting. There were also opt-out discussions in Charlotte and Collier Counties. None of the boards took action. A state testing opt out discussion is also on the agenda for Palm Beach County’s School Board.
And—several days ago, Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho released a statement calling for a delay in administering new high-stakes standardized tests across Florida.
Lee county officials say they will continue to push for statewide solutions. And Lee superintendent Nancy Graham told board members she was investigating alternative methods aimed at lessening the pressure of high-stakes testing on students and teachers.
Bob Schaeffer with Fair Test says these are good signs, but they aren’t enough.
“Talk is easy,” he said. “It’s easy to make high sounding statements. What people want is more concreate action and it’s still not there.”
However, Schaeffer said statewide discussions are an indication this issue is far from over.
