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Florida Coalition Vows to Fight FCAT
Members of the FCAT Protest Coalition announced at a town hall meeting in Miami-Dade County on Saturday that they will pursue legal action against the state of Florida if Gov. Jeb Bush does not suspend the results of the mandatory statewide exam that will prevent thousands of students from receiving high school diplomas.
''Gov. Bush has built a wall in front of our children, and he is standing at the gate saying check your dreams at the door,'' attorney Donald Jones, a law professor at the University of Miami, told hundreds of parents and teachers who packed the pews of New Birth Baptist Cathedral of Faith near Opa-locka.
''We will carry the battle to court,'' said Jones, who plans to lead the legal case. ``This is about dreams. I will put together a dream team to take to battle. We will not lose this one.''
Jones said the Black Lawyers Association has agreed to work with him pro bono.
The coalition had previously announced plans for a boycott of major Florida industries, including tourism, citrus, sugar and the state lottery to protest the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
About 4,800 students in Miami-Dade and 1,500 in Broward County will not receive high school diplomas because they have not passed the FCAT. In addition, nearly 12,000 Miami-Dade and Broward third-graders may be prevented from moving up to fourth grade because of poor performance on the test.
But Bush has said the test scores show significant progress by minority students. The 2003 scores of black fourth-graders showed 41 percent of them scored at or above grade level on the reading exam, up from 23 percent when the test began in 1998. Also, 33 percent of Hispanic fourth-graders scored at the reading test's lowest level, down from 43 percent in 1998.
Bush spokeswoman Alia Faraj said Saturday that there was no chance of suspending the FCAT results.
`CELEBRATING'
''Gov. Bush believes we should be celebrating and not boycotting,'' Faraj said. ``Gov. Bush says shame on anyone who would boycott Florida's tourism and citrus industry, negatively impacting Florida's economy.''
The coalition is made up mostly of church and civic leaders, including Bishop Victor T. Curry and Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. Curry helped put Saturday's meeting together in part to rally FCAT critics for a boycott.
''No Fantasy Five. No Pick Three. Don't drive on the Turnpike and we're not going to buy any Florida-brand orange juice,'' Curry said. ``We aren't going to go see Mickey and Minnie. No Disney World. We're not throwing any rocks, we're not burning buildings, we're just keeping those Benjamins in our pockets. This is what we'll call the quiet riot.''
Curry has also organized a demonstration on Thursday morning against the new graduation requirement at Bush's Miami office in West Miami-Dade.
''We're asking the governor to call a moratorium. Be a man of compassion and suspend the results of the test,'' Curry said.
Curry and other FCAT critics argue the state's education system has failed, not the children. The group maintains that the seniors are taking the blame for incompetent schools that did not prepare them for the FCAT.
MINORITIES HURT
And while the state has not yet released the complete ethnic and racial breakdown of the test results, Wilson said Saturday that it is South Florida's minority communities that are the hardest hit. According to Wilson, 2,000 of the 4,000 black seniors in Miami-Dade did not pass the FCAT.
''We are in a crisis,'' Wilson said. ``Education is the key to escaping poverty. It's how we escape crime. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I don't feel children should work to their maximum capability, but this system that was put in place by the governor and Legislature was not ready to be put in place. We're saying, pause. Let's take a better look at this thing.''
Bush's office said Saturday that almost 40 percent of those who failed the FCAT would not have been able to graduate anyway because they have not met course and GPA requirements.
For Tatiana Jacobs-Debrow, 18, a senior at Miami Northwestern, the test means she won't be attending the University of Miami next year. She had planned to study computer science.
In tears, the teen's mother pleaded with the group for help Saturday.
''My baby came to me yesterday and she couldn't even look me in the eye because she felt ashamed,'' Tonya Jacobs-Debrow said. ``That isn't right. My daughter is an honors student.''
— Anabelle de Gale
Coalition vows legal fight over FCAT
Miami Herald
May 18, 2003
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/5887135.htm
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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