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NAPLES, Fla., May 19 — Nearly 13,000 high school seniors in Florida will not graduate as scheduled this year because they failed to pass a newly required state achievement test. Some school boards around the state have voted to allow seniors who met all graduation requirements, aside from passing the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test, to participate in commencement ceremonies, although they won’t receive a diploma.

BUT south Florida’s black community leaders and legislators plan a protest this week, denouncing the FCAT as unfair to minority students. They want Gov. Jeb Bush to put aside the consequences for students who failed this year’s test and re-examine the FCAT policies.
The protesters are calling for boycotts of the Florida Lottery, the state’s citrus industry and its major theme parks, among other measures.
State officials have said they won’t set aside the results and the governor has criticized the protesters, noting that scores have gone up since the test was started in 1998 and minority students have made some of the biggest gains.
“This is a time to celebrate, this is not a time to boycott,” Bush said last week.
This is the first year that seniors have been required to pass the test, which measures reading, writing and math skills, before graduating. Those failing are roughly one of every 11 seniors.
Schradaath Charles is one of 27 seniors at Naples High who have met all the requirements necessary to receive a diploma — except passing the FCAT. Charles, 18, spoke almost no English when she came to the United States four years ago from her native Haiti.
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With the new school board ruling, Charles can don a cap and gown, even though she won’t get a diploma on graduation night.
“I’m really happy I get to walk with my friends,” Charles said. “I’m not going to give up and I’m going to do everything I can to pass (the FCAT).”
Naples High counselor Bernardo Torres said he’d like to see the state implement a different FCAT scoring system, especially in reading, for students who are still learning English.
In Haines City, 82 seniors — more than 25 percent of the senior class — are being denied graduation because of the FCAT, principal Duane Collins said. Haines City has Polk County’s highest percentage of students for whom English is a second language.
“It’s easy to be upset over generalities. ... (But) the schools are not failing the kids,” Collins said. “I’m just not sure we’re being treated fairly with the grading system.”
Seniors have had at least five opportunities to take the FCAT — once as sophomores, twice more as juniors and twice more as seniors. Those still seeking their diplomas after graduation day can continue taking the test indefinitely.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/915471.asp

Why should a test be considered discriminatory? How does the test know what color you are?

Raising the expectations is one thing, but providing the necessary tools for sucess is another.

What has Florida done to improve the learning process of the students in order to better prepare them to succeed?

I'm not saying they haven't done anything, I'm asking this as a serious question because I don't have all of the facts. If they have simply raised the expectations without providing the necessary tools then I think there is a problem.

Robby - They're raising the race issue due to the fact that the majority of minority schools have less funding and therefore inferior teaching as a general rule. Dropout rates paint a good picture of this, minority student(Black and Hispanic) are more likely to dropout as are low income students.

Go to page 4
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002114.pdf

I was stating why the race card was being played, not justifying it, and these stats are for the US as a whole not just Florida.

In defense of the educational system, the numbers have been improving and/or maintaining over the last 30 years, but the fact remains that low income and minority students are more likely to dropout and under perform.

I think you just hit the nail on the head!! Parents need to take more responsibility instead of crying foul at the system. And in the cases where the parents aren't intelligent enough to help their kids they should care enough to get them into programs that can help, or learn themselves.

Chris, it may surprise you to find that the location in the country where more is spent per student than anywhere else in our country is Washington DC. Guess where also has some of the worst performance and graduation rates? Do you really think it's tied so inextricably to how much you spend? At some point, don't the problems lay deeper in our society?

Robby - Good points!

I agree, money is not the only answer, the parenting has to be analyzed as well.

As far as true performance increase vs lowered standards, I think it's a bit of both. There have been a lot of changes in race relations in the last 30 years and I think that has helped a lot in order to try and equalize the system. But I still think there's room for improvement.

Robby - If he's smiling at 10 weeks it's just gas... ;-)

Great subject Chris.
Here in Massachusetts, the 2003 graduating senior class is the first to require our standardized test (MCAS) in order to receive a diploma.
The test has been conducted for several years now to get everybody up to date, and it has been dummied down in order to prevent marginal students from failing.

Already, the state has been able to channel resources to those school districts where the MCAS results are below average. By definition, that's a success.

The race card is being played, to the point where there is pending lawsuits. But it's not what one would think. It has little to do with minority school districts having lower funding and therefore poorer resources to educate. It has EVERYTHING to do with SKIN COLOR ALONE.
How so?
A girl in a town on Cape Cod (Falmouth) is black. She goes to a predominantly white high school. She has failed the test several times, and is in jeopardy of not getting her diploma. If that happens, she has vowed to join the law suit regarding the MCAS discriminating against blacks.
Now, I ask, how could a girl who goes to a well funded school flunk a test due solely to her skin color???

Me thinks she has lost her desire to achieve because she has fallen victim to this liberal society of entitlement.
No test could ever compensate for that.

tg - liberal entitlement society, no. Last resort of a stupid person.

charlie - we've caused this problem ourselves by raising children with the TV. It's not there fault. When our children are 2-15 we need to be reading to and/or with them and not just letting them watch TV constantly. TV and DVD kids movies are the newest pacifier. The other thing is parents don't stay on top of their kids education.

I'll chime in with 2.25 cents worth. It's all about parent involvment or lack of it. Period. There may be exceptions, but regardless of the situation good or bad or whatever, if a parent(s) gave a rats ass about their kid, they would find the time to read to/with them and help them with their homework. If they don't have the skills themselves, then like someone said, they should find a way. If they think it's the system then for crying out loud put forth some effort and get to the bottom of it instead of crying foul or discrimination; find out if it's really substandard teaching or distractions in the classroom and if so keep raising hell until someone starts listening--or if you have the skill, then homeschool your kids. I know many parents who have done the latter with results that would embarass the school system because their kids are so far ahead in their studies. If a child needs special education, then that means a parent has to do more than work their asses off; they need to ensure they provide or seek out special education and work that much harder to help their child. People need to quit bitching about how this or that is unfair to their kid and either take some initiative or find a better way. My kids have been in front of the TV and in front of video games and DVDs more than you can imagine, but we work our asses off helping them with their studies and reading to them every night since before they could even say any words. One is an A student and the other a B to A student. And we damn sure don't put any expectations on them; we work with them and simply tell them to relax and do the best they can. We tell them that we don't expect them to live up to anyone's expectations of how good they should be in school. But we also tell them to put in the effort if they want results, but conversely, if you don't put in any effort, you will need to live with the results. OK, so that's 5 cents worth...

Whether white, black, hispanic, asian, yellow, purple or polka-dot, you guys have hit the nail on the head. It's true that parental involvement is key.
With that said, why do some schools fair better than others? Why do some cultures do better than others?
We know the answers.
And it has little to do with money, as the liberal left would have you belive.

Chris, as for entitlement, I maintain that todays liberal mentality has taught kids (and parents) that they "deserve" a diploma regardless of achievement.

I agree parental involvement is important in every kids life but if you are unfortunate enough to be born from two marginally educated people it's hard for them to provide the support some kids need. Somehow, people got the impression that everyone is equal. well it just ain't so. Some people are stupid and race isn't a factor. We need high school drop outs and other marginally educated people. They play a vital role in our society and economy. Everyone can't go to college or technical school. Someone has to sweep floors, clean toilets and dig ditches. Life ain't fair!!

what jd1 said