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Statement on the Signing of HB 7069 Testing Bill
April, 2015Today Governor Scott signed HB 7069, the testing and accountability bill, despite the concerns of thousands of parents, teachers and students about the still lingering and harsh effects of Florida's problem plagued accountability system.
"We appreciate the efforts of the legislature for the tests that were reduced, said Dr. Karen Effrem, executive director of The Florida Stop Common Core Coalition. "We still, however, remain very concerned about a post-test validity process, subject to political appointments, that still leaves our students and teachers subject to high stakes decisions based on invalid tests. We believe that this law still does not protect students and staff from consequences of these tests that are useless for informing instruction and invasively profile our children, while leaving the taxpayers in jeopardy from inevitable lawsuits."
"Sadly, this bill also does not do anything to deal with the inferior, inappropriate, and manipulative standards upon which these tests are based," said Randy Osborne, director of education for Florida Eagle Forum.
"It is clear that the legislative process only nibbled around the edges of an enormous problem, and that citizens will have to find other means of protecting children, asserting parental rights, and returning to education instead of test preparation," said Catherine Baer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Network.
