A proposal to eliminate some testing requirements for Florida schoolchildren won the unanimous support of a second House committee on Thursday.
The real debate centered around an amendment proposed by Rep. Mia Jones.
Jones, D-Jacksonville, proposed holding off on school grades during the transition to new standards and assessments — something superintendents, school board members and parent groups have long been asking for.
Jones noted that students had trouble accessing Florida’s new online exams last week — the result of both software problems and cyber attacks — and argued it would be unfair to hold students responsible for the results.
“Today, I ask you not to put a scarlet letter on our young people,” she said.
Several members of the public spoke in support of her recommendation.
