Dive Brief:
- The Florida Education Association issued a resolution Wednesday asking for the "immediate halt to the misuse and abuse of testing."
- Informing the resolution was the Lee County School Board's short-lived decision to opt out of all testing — a move that led to threats of funding being withheld and students not being able to graduate, which the FEA called a "stunningly severe" response.
- Another district is slated to vote on similar opt-out measures next month, and Palm Beach Schools voted earlier this week to adopt a resolution asking for three years before schools are evaluated by test scores.
Dive Insight:
Florida just may be ground zero for high-stakes testing opposition. Two days before the FEA released its resolution, Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart announced that the state would no longer require K-2 students to take the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading (FAIR) test.
Ultimately, the resolution seeks autonomy for local school districts in the development of "a fair and accurate system of assessing student performance," and until that happens, it suggests that the state "provide a legitimate process for parents and students to decline participation in these educationally unsound tests."