State House To Take Up School Testing Bill
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - The Florida House is expected to approve a bill Wednesday aimed at soothing parent outrage over the amount of testing in the state's public schools.
On Tuesday, lawmakers cleared the way for the legislation (HB 7069) to pass the chamber, rejecting a pair of Democratic amendments.
House members voted 75-38 against a measure that would have allowed parents to have their children take a paper-based test instead of a troubled online test that the state rolled out earlier this month. Another amendment suspending school grades for a year was turned aside on an 80-36 vote, despite Democratic arguments that the new test needs to be evaluated.
"This year, as we implement a new tool, we should test the tool, make sure the tool is working appropriately, and then, after we know how the tool is working, then we should move forward, re-establishing the grading process," said Rep. Mia Jones, a Jacksonville Democrat who sponsored the amendment.
The overall bill, which would eliminate a state language-arts test, give districts more flexibility on testing and reduce the importance of test results in teacher evaluations, is likely to pass with overwhelming support.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.