Outraged over the education policies of Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, thousands of public school teachers marched on the state Capitol Thursday to demand reform.
The event was organized by the state's teacher union, the Florida Education Association, which is taking issue with the high-stakes Florida Standards Assessment test.
The test, designed in the wake of the governor's refusal to endorse an exam linked to the multi-state Common Core standards, is rife with administration and scoring problems that began to surface as soon as it was rolled out last year.
In addition to questioning the reliability of the test, teachers at Thursday's rally also complained of the time they're required to spend preparing students for the test's questions.
"We are testing. Every single week we are testing, and that is all we are doing," said Janan Sherer, a fifth grade teacher at Spook Hill Elementary in Lake Wales. "We don't have time to teach the children to mastery, so they're going on with poor scores and not prepared."
As the test has come under increasing criticism, Gov. Scott has been forced to step up his defense of it, arguing its administration is critical to measuring whether teachers are doing their jobs and students are learning.
"We ought to be proud of what's happened in K-12 education. Look at the results that our students are seeing, the achievement gains they're seeing, the accountability we have in the system," Scott said.
Many teachers, however, are demanding that state leaders suspend factoring test results into school grades and teacher evaluations, at least until the exam's issues are resolved.
"I would hope that they would be intelligent enough to listen and I pray that they're intelligent enough to listen," said Polk County teacher Lorinda Utter.
Seminole County teachers attend rally in Tallahassee
More than 100 of those teachers were from Seminole County.
Amanda Clodfelter headed to the state capitol Thursday morning before most of her third graders were awake. Clodfelter is one of dozens of teachers and other Seminole County school employees who belong to the county’s teacher union.
They hope lawmakers will turn their concerns into legislation that will change the way the state tests students and judge teacher performance.
“I hope they get the memo that we’re there because we want the best for our kids, and that’s what it’s all about,” said Clodfelter.
Some students even joined their teachers on the trip to Tallahassee.
“We feel like we could be learning different stuff based on what the teachers want, said Dan Shadix, an Oviedo High School senior. “And, that the standardized testing isn’t letting us access our full potential.”
Clodfelter said the trip will be well worth it if they can convince lawmakers to make changes for the better.
Governor Rick Scott recently offered his thoughts on the current system.
“We ought to be proud of what’s happened in K-12 education,” said Gov. Rick Scott. “Look at the results our students are seeing, the achievement gains they’re seeing, the accountability we have in the system. The commissioner, Pam Stewart, has done an outstanding job. We have a very good board of education, so I think the system we have right now is working very well.”