T
he Florida Appeals Court stated that the Leon County district court did not have jurisdiction over parents’ complaints about third grade retention based upon the Florida Statewide Assessment scores. Instead, the court determined that the lawsuits should have been filed in local district courts where parents resided. According to the Orlando Sentinel report, the Appeals Court ruling declared that the state assessment had a laudable purpose to ‘assess whether the student has a reading deficiency and needs additional reading instruction before or after being promoted to fourth grade’.
Vote, Organize and Protest, stay in touch with state representatives. In addition on the national level, new bills in the house: HR610- Vouchers for Public Education (The bill also repeals basic nutrition standards for the national school lunch and breakfast programs). HR899-Termination of the Department of Education, HR785- National Right to Work (aimed at ending unions including teacher unions). Call your congressman, voice your outrage. Remember the people behind these bills have power with money but we make up for that by having large numbers of people opposing their privatization goals.