Legislature to consider class size, replacing FCAT
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MIAMI -- Measures to ease class-size amendment requirements, replace the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test with end of course examinations and require teachers in the state's pre-kindergarten program to hold a bachelor's degree are all up for consideration as the Legislature goes into session this spring.
Florida voters approved an amendment in 2002 to ensure smaller classes, the requirements of which have been gradually implemented over the last eight years. The final phase are scheduled to take effect next fall, when every class must meet a specific grade-level cap, rather than calculate a school or districtwide average.
The issue has split along political lines, with two Republican senators proposing an amendment that would keep counts at the school-wide average and permit the addition of a few extra seats where necessary.
Gov. Charlie Crist has expressed his support for the bill, saying Florida has successfully reduced class size by two students each year and that the state needs "a more reasonable approach that does not overburden taxpayers."
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Middle school civics bill gets favorable vote in Senate committee
A bill that would make civics a required middle school course - and make students pass a standardized end-of-course exam to earn their civics course credit - got a favorable vote in the Senate education committee this afternoon.
But it could run into opposition (as its predecessor did last year) because of the cost.
Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, sponsored the bill, saying state standards already require the teaching of civics in middle school - but that it doesn't always seem to happen.
"Most of the content is already there in the Florida statutes," she said. "Civics somewhere is slipping through the cracks."
The reason, she said, "That which isn't tested isn't taught."
The bill, and a companion in the House, would make the end-of-course exam count for 30 percent of a student's final grade. Students would have to pass the exam to get the credit, and exam scores would count as part of middle schools' annual A-to-F state grades.Read more
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