FCAT: the "F" isn't really for "Florida"

One of the enduring legacies of Jeb! Bush's destruction of education here in America's Wang™ has been the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or FCAT. According to the website, the test "is part of Florida’s overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards." Unfortunately, "higher standards" generally means "teaching to the test." The rationale behind the FCAT, again according to the website, bugs me as well:

Why do students take the FCAT?
To meet the complex challenges of today's workplace, students must be skilled in mathematics and science, be able to read and understand difficult texts, and be able to write well. FCAT test questions are designed to measure the reading, writing, mathematics, and science skills that students should acquire. The test helps teachers, principals, and superintendents determine the level of success students have with the Sunshine State Standards.

The problem here, of course, is that the "complex challenges of today's workplace" typically don't require one to take a standardized test and regurgitate information you just learned. See, the beauty of education, at least as I remember it, is that you learned to take in information and synthesize and adapt and apply it to your life and, ultimately, your career. Frankly, I imagine most of the stuff on the FCAT is only good if you're going to be on Jeopardy! ... but I digress.

Students in Florida take one part or another of the FCAT in every grade from 3rd to 11th -- reading and math every year except 11th and writing and science three times, scattered in various years. The reason this concerns me now is because Sinfonian, Jr. just started third grade this week, and he's already nervous about the FCAT. Now, don't get me wrong -- the kid is brilliant (if I do say so myself) -- but it's the principle that you have someone who's not even 8 years old yet worried about a test because it might affect his chances of going to college. That's ridiculous, and that's far more pressure than a third-grader should have to face.

Worse still, the state uses the FCAT to evaluate the quality of teaching and, in turn, the quality of schools. That's right -- instead of, you know, actually teaching material and getting kids to think, teachers are forced to adhere to a rigid curriculum that prepares students for a test, so that their school can get more money and they can keep their jobs. Even the teachers' salaries are tied to FCAT performance. This flat out sucks.

Little-known fact about your host: I taught high school civics and history for four years before going to law school, and so I'd like to think I know a little about whereof I speak. The constant dumbing-down of our schools by Republican leaders is, to me, just further evidence of their ultimate goal of destroying public education once and for all so they can replace it with their country-club private education and religious indoctrination academies. (Okay, so maybe I need to adjust my tin-foil helmet a little, but don't tell me that's not one of the goals.)

Hey, Jeb!, thanks for nothing. You've turned bright third graders like my son into nervous wrecks, and you've made our schools a laughingstock. Thank Jeebus you're not in charge anymore ... but your policies still make Florida worse.