After weeks of committee conversations, Florida Senate Education chairman John Legg is ready to take the debate over student testing and teacher evaluations to the next level.
Legg is filing a bill today that tackles concerns and complaints he and colleagues have heard from educators and parents over the past several weeks and months. The key points are these:
– The bill would remove requirements for local testing in every course solely to evaluate teacher performance. Districts would receive more flexibility in how to assess children for this purpose, although teachers and principals who receive performance-based pay must use district-approved assessments. The only state required tests that would remain would be the 3-11 Florida Standards Assessments and the five high school end-of-course exams already in place.
Legg acknowledged that some lawmakers have clamored to do away with the 11th-grade FSA requirement, but said that would be a discussion for hearings on the bill.
