FCAT Oversimplifies Impact Of Education

If a student tripped on three-foot hurdles, would you raise the bar to four feet as a solution to the problem?

Of course not. So why is testing to a higher standard lauded as the panacea to Florida's national embarrassment, otherwise known as our educational system?

Decades ago, Bowdoin College, a top liberal arts college in Maine, eliminated the Scholastic Aptitude Test as an admission requirement. Finally, last year, many top colleges, including Rollins, made SATs optional.

Some students don't test well, and no test can adequately gauge a student's preparedness better than the right teacher's long-term exposure to a student's output. It's not about bureaucracy. It's all about the right teacher, paid adequately, and unencumbered by bureaucracy. And it most certainly isn't about having to teach to the test.

The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) should be abolished. The test is a complete misunderstanding of what education is all about. The right teacher can best determine whether or not a child is ready to advance to the next grade. The teacher upholds the high standard; not one test. Shame on the politicians who are after the measurable results of a test to get elected to office. This is supposed to be about educating children, not electing politicians.

Students can't learn well when they're living in fear of one test that can change the course of their lives for the worse. And the Millennials desperately need analog knowledge to be successful in our digital world. Long-term goals, sacrifice, hard work, writing, reading and speaking are under attack by those who think immediate gratification, texting, typing, file sharing, viewing videos and being wired 24/7 have changed the definition of accomplishment. The foundations of learning are being threatened more and more as each day passes.

But, how can you expect kids to listen to us when we're not able to see the damage done by the FCAT?