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Wahoo! A Stinging Editorial Blasts Brother Jeb
Gov. Bush is like those voucher schools whose students don't have to take the FCAT. The governor sets the standards for his own success and -- surprise -- is very pleased with the results.
He was in Washington last week to address the enraptured crowd at the Center for Education Reform, a private group that has little use for traditional schools. Gov. Bush gave glowing reports of his almost single-handed struggle to improve Florida's public schools by sending as much of their resources as possible to private schools. The public schools he singled out for praise were, of course, charter schools.
From his remarks, listeners would conclude that the state's charter schools are a runaway success. In fact, of 260 charter schools, only 37 have earned A grades from Gov. Bush's own FCAT-based system. Only 88 have received grades at all. Fourteen charter schools scored F's, which means that charter schools, a fraction of the total number of public schools, racked up 40 percent of the state's F grades.
Gov. Bush is adept at leaving out the bad news. He congratulated himself for the state's corporate tax-break vouchers, which he said enable 12,000 students "to go to the schools of their choice." Knowing what his audience wanted to hear, the governor did not mention the multiple scandals in that voucher program that have forced him to propose reforms to keep recipients from spiriting away the voucher money and to set even minimal academic standards. It was just as well that he didn't mention it to those reformers, because his "reforms" hardly deserve the name. They don't require, for example, private schools using public money to prove their educational value by giving students the same FCAT that public schools have to live or die by.
Gov. Bush is very proud of the FCAT because, he told the crowd, it shows that "we have the guts to say children need to be held back until they learn." Last year, this tough approach flunked 13,000 third-graders who appealed to him for help but got none. His Washington listeners probably didn't know that just last week, Gov. Bush's administration recommended delaying new, higher FCAT standards because, in fact, he doesn't have the guts to flunk so many third-graders next year when his brother will be running for reelection.
As an alternative to delaying standards, Gov. Bush could let students grade themselves. Or does that standard apply only to the governor?
— Editorial
School reform road show plays less well
Palm Beach Post
2003-11-03
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/monday/opinion_f35a19a4463e02eb00e2.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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