Blast Off! Radio today at 4:00 pm EDT: Make sure to use a No. 2 pencil

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test -- or "FCAT" -- probably strikes more fear in the hearts of educators than it does the public school students throughout Florida who actually take the test. That's because the state uses the test scores to gauge the schools' performance during each year, at the end of which they get a letter grade -- A through F -- that defines how much funding they'll get the next year. As a result, teachers don't just "teach to the test," but they practically have to do so, in order to preserve their schools and their jobs. And that, in turn, makes Florida's public school system even worse, by forcing teachers into cramming rote facts into their students' heads rather than helping them, you know, actually learn.

This brilliant notion (sarcasm intended) was the brainchild of former Florida governor Jeb! Bush -- or it would have been, if he only had a brain -- and it is the crown jewel of what I call the "damaging legacy" of Bush's gubernatorial reign. And since the main part of the FCAT will be administered this week, it provides me with perfect, timely ranting fodder for today's Blast Off! Radio.

Indeed, I'll be spending much of the show talking about education -- and I actually do know a little about the subject, having been a high school teacher myself at one time, for four years. I also have a child in a Florida public school and another who will be when she enters kindergarten (likewise, Miss July has three kids in public school here, and I hear a lot about their trials and tribulations), so my experience is firsthand.

No, the show won't be all about the FCAT, as we have plenty of other education-related topics to cover: for one, kudos to the Obama administration for deciding that actual science, not ideology, will guide the government's approach to, well, science. And what about the Florida school board that hates gay students? All this and more will come to you in pure, full rantophonic© sound on Blast Off! Radio this afternoon.

How can you get a piece of the action today? As always, it's just a click away:

TIME: 4:00 pm Eastern TODAY

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Call in number: (646) 716-7543

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

So get those pencils sharpened and get ready to bubble in your answer sheets for Blast Off! Radio. And remember: when in doubt, bubble "C."

(cross-posted at FPC Blog)