Governor Rick Scott released a video earlier this week saying that he will work to make changes to Florida's FCAT testing system.
"No more teaching to the test," he says in the video with that subtle-creepy demeanor of his. "It's time we get a better measure of our children's progress."
He doesn't really get into what exactly his plan to "not teach to the test" is. But this new attitude towards the FCAT is something new for the governor. Like when Frankenstein realized that fire burns.
"FCAT, BAD!"
Scott was once the FCAT's biggest supporters.
In April 2010, then-Governor Charlie Crist vetoed Bill 6, a bill that would have tied teacher pay to student performance on the FCAT. Scott ran on a platform of revamping Bill 6.
But Scott, facing some pretty awful approval rating numbers, is now pandering the crap out of us all and announcing that the FCAT is not awesome.
Scott is, of course, leading from behind here. Everyone knows the FCAT is terrible, but only now is the Gov coming out and saying so.
More than that, plans to get rid of the FCAT are already in motion, and have been for a while now.
Florida will now look to implement Common Core standards, which focuses on 21st Century learning tools. Critics of Common Core say that'll probably just mean more testing for our kids.
But it seems to be working better in other states than the FCAT's insane soul-eating PASS THIS TEST OR DIE!!! standards.
Common Core will likely be a much more welcomed standard to the state of Florida. Until people start to criticize it and then Rick Scott agrees with them when his approval rating is crappy again.
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