Conservative governor = dumber students?
Rick Scott, Florida's 45th governor.
Gov. Rick Scott has been taking it on the chin a lot lately.
Remember the bill he supported to fine or yank the licenses of pediatricians who dared to ask patients’ parents whether they had a gun in their home? It died.
Remember Scott’s cockamamie scheme to drug-test ALL welfare recipients, even though studies show they use illegal drugs at far lower rates than the general population? (They’re poor; duh, they can’t afford dope). He wanted to test 80,000 state workers, too.
Remember how he had his staff ghost write letters to the editor of Florida newspapers, just in case his supporters were too dumb to write half-decent ones of their own?
Now (gasp!) it seems that most of Florida’s schoolchildren have suddenly grown a lot dumber since Scott became governor. All of a sudden, they’re miserably failing standardized reading and writing tests by alarming percentages (like 67 percent).
So what do they do in Florida when this happens? Easy peasy: They simply lower the minimum passing score.
From ClickOrlando.com:
The Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida’s standardized test after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in student passing scores.
The results indicated only about a third of students would pass this year’s tougher Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test exam, compared with a passing rate of 80 percent or more last year.
Not that Scott is accepting any of the blame for this. From the same story:
“Our students must know how to read and write, and our education system must be able to measure and benchmark their progress so we can set clear education goals,” said Gov. Rick Scott in a statement Monday. “The significant contrast in this year’s writing scores is an obvious indication that the Department of Education needs to review the issue and recommend an action plan so that our schools, parents, teachers and students have a clear understanding of the results.”
Here is the clincher: Those test scores are used to grade schools, and to shut down the poorest-performing ones. This actually lowers the real estate values of homes in the areas with poor-performing schools. Some areas in Florida, which already has been killed by the popping of the real-estate bubble, may be seeing further home-value declines.
More from the same story:
“This incident again demonstrates that Florida school grades reflect profoundly political decisions, not objective measures of teaching and learning,” said [a] spokesman for FairTest: National Center for Fair & Open Testing in Jamaica Plain, Mass., Bob Schaeffer, in an email. “How can a measure which fluctuates from 81 percent to 27 percent ‘proficient’ in just one year even meet the laugh test?”
There’s the nut. How can it pass the “laugh test?” is a great question. It can’t.
To take just a bit off the sting off Scott, it should be noted that the minimum passing grades were raised significantly this year.But even when they drop them back to the old levels, by reducing the minimum, a startlingly greater number of kids are failing.
Nobody should be surprised by this, however. That’s because disgraced ex-CEO Scott has made it one of his aims as governor to thwart public education at every opportunity. There are myriad reasons for this.
One is, public school teachers are a conservative bugaboo. They organize (whether they’re in unions or not) and that makes them an evil demon in temples of the right wing.
Two, to borrow a page from Harry F. Byrd, the noted Virginia conservative: You don’t want to give kids too much schooling or they get uppity. Better off to keep to them stupid. That way, they’ll work for lower pay and they’ll shut up. Byrd actually believed that.
Three: Rick Scott has a grand master plan with regard to public schools. He wants to replace them, with privatized, at-home online education provided by companies that paid a lot in campaign donations to make sure he got elected governor.
And now that 67 percent of students in the state are failing standardized reading and writing exams, he might get his way.
May 17, 2012 - 8:00 AM
It’s probably no coincidence that the man is a dead ringer for Montgomery Burns from The Simpson’s.
My sister is a kindergarten teacher in FL. She has strict guidelines of what she can & can not teach. For example, when teaching money she can talk about a penny, nickle, & dime, but if a kid asks ‘what is a quarter?’ She is not allowed to answer. That’s first grade work.
To be fair, it’s not that the kids suddenly got dumber, it’s that the state changed the tests. The new tests are a lot tougher, so it makes sense that scores are lower. Adjusting the passing score is a reasonable response to maintain continuity between the old and new standards during the transition period.
It doesn’t matter that Florida students are getting dumber. Almost everyone down there has a little bit of Seminole blood in them. Just have all of those Florida kids apply to Harvard as an Indian minority and they will all get great educations.
#4 But are those kids defecating in parks and scaring away families, terps?
This from the same state where a woman tried to sell her child for a tank of gas. Also the same state that pretty much provides all the oxycontin for the whole east coast due to lax laws (particularly in Broward County.)
I’m pretty sure the sun does weird stuff to people. see: Arizona, Texas, Deep South, Florida, etc…
Yeah…I`m sure those `studies` are a real accurate representation…Welfare recipients `can`t afford drugs` ????? Man, is your head in the deep end of the sandbox
2.”My sister is a kindergarten teacher in FL. She has strict guidelines of what she can & can not teach. For example, when teaching money she can talk about a penny, nickle, & dime, but if a kid asks ‘what is a quarter?’ She is not allowed to answer. That’s first grade work.
Comment by Little Creek”
This post is a gem for different reasons to different people.
“ A dead ringer for Montgomery Burns on the Simpsons?????? Really Debbie ? Is that all that you can come up with ? You were probably among the knuckle-heads that were criticizing Chris Christie because he is overweight ! Can anyone spell `Desparation` ???? Hurry home now, you don`t want to miss an episode of the Simpsons !
He’s only been the governor for a little over a year, and someone really thinks that him being governor has made students dumber? That’s a hell of a reach. I don’t see any logic to support that.
I’m guessing that standardized tests are assumed to be an accurate measure of students too. I think that a lot of teachers would agree that standardized tests are one of the biggest jokes in education. It makes perfect sense… right? Have a committee of people, who don’t step foot into classrooms, write a test to judge how well that students in those classrooms that they never step foot into are doing. Brilliant.
If only we could laugh at Florida. As an educator in Virginia, I wish the press would ask some hard questions in regard to our own State’s performance on Standardized tests. Dan found some low hanging fruit to throw at Florida’s conservative governor, but he could have just as easily stayed in Virginia and asked similar questions.
By the way.. what are the passing scores for the SOL tests in the State of Virginia? Anyone? Do you have to get 80 percent to pass? 50?
Here’s a really good question: Since the SOL’s were instituted in the mid nineties, how have student outcomes changed?
The State will be quick to point out how many schools have bucked up to their accreditation standards, but what about measures of student performance independent of the SOL’s. Are kids better prepared for college, trades school, military service or jobs after graduation?
Seems like a State initiative to improve education would have had some kind of baseline to show if it was working our not.
Mike Scott, don’t you be bringing that solid logic and reason into a discussion about how the government handles education!
The decline in test scores may be linked to
increased intake of citrus (Vitamin C).
You ever seen what spilled orange juice does
to the finish of a wood dining table?
Not a pretty picture.
Chill out, Jeff Doto, don’t take it so seriously.
The link below takes you to the cut scores for Virginia’s SOLs. the second link takes you to the explanation of the cut scores.
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/scoring/cut_scores.pdf
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/scoring/explanation_for_cut%20scores.pdf
No, Jeff Doto, I was not among the people criticizing Chris Christie because of his weight.
Florida looks downright civilized and scholarly compared to
Old Mississippi…
Which of the 50 states has the most religious population?
More than eight-in-ten people in Mississippi (82%) say religion is very important in their lives, making the Magnolia State the most religious according to Pew Research. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1449/states-ranked-by-religiosity-four-measures
What is the most Republican and most conservative state in the nation:
Mississippi
http://www.gallup.com/poll/146348/mississippi-rates-conservative-state.aspx
According to the 2011 data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau:
☻Mississippi ranks 1st in the number of people living BELOW the poverty level.
☻Mississippi ranks 50th in median household income of $37,790 – the LOWEST in America – over $14,000 below the national figure.
☻Mississippi ranks 45th in school funding – this only made possible by a substantial amount of federal aid
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/rankings.html
☻Mississippi students have the LOWEST mean score on the ACT college admissions test
http://www.act.org/newsroom/
☻Mississippi’s high school graduation rate – only 63% of its children even graduate
http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/dc/2010/gradrate_trend.html&destination=http://www.edweek.org/ew/dc/2010/gradrate_trend.html&levelId=2100
☻Mississippi led the Republican south -and the entire country – in providing dismal health care in 2009.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2009/Oct/2009-State-Scorecard.aspx
It is no coincidence that you get outcomes like Mississippi’s when you have super religious conservative Republicans governing. These results: the worst incomes, educational performance, and health care – will be what Republicans will bring to the entire US if they can buy enough elections and representatives. Finally we can all be Mississippians!
#9, I can spell ‘desperation,’ but I prefer to use the correct spelling!
#9 Another liberal here who never ever made fun of Christie for his weight. HOWEVER, right-wing troll suzie has declared in the past that anybody who is overweight is just plain lazy.
I think this is a reach. Given the change in requirements, the massive change in results could just as easily (and probably more correctly) reflect the shortcomings of previous administrations or the shortcomings of how educatiing students is handled in Florida in an overall sense, rather than a means to say their current governor caused the problem. They have had Republicans in the office since 1999 when Jeb Bush won though…
One thing that I noticed…this mentioned the writing portion of the testing. I know from my time of being a TA at Virginia Tech, written assignments are much more subjective in how they are graded, compared to multiple choice, matching, or other types of questions that have a clear right/wrong means to grade them. Also, I can’t really say I am surprised that school kids have trouble with a written exam portion…there’s a lot of adults who can’t write worth a lick!
Jeff Doto, until you have the guts to jump on Suzie for her constant “monkey boy” epithet for the President, I think your outrage is as transparent as your spelling skill.
Dollar to a donut says the same people who defend Chris Christie against “fat jokes” made plenty of “ugly Hillary” jokes in their time.
Mike Scott
I really like your comments. Florida is not the ONLY state to modify standards so more could pass. I don’t think this is a partisan issue at all. In fact, if the Republicans really were so determined to kill public education, why wouldn’t they just institute standards so high that no (or few) schools would pass? That would “prove” that public schools are failing.
“Can anyone spell `Desparation”
Must be a product of the Florida schools.
Rick Scott looks like Skeletor’s awkward, clumsy brother and Jan Brewer looks like Skeletor’s mother.
“Jan Brewer looks like Skeletor’s mother.”
By the power of Greyskull, I declare that funny!
HOWEVER, right-wing troll suzie has declared in the past that anybody who is overweight is just plain lazy.
Oh wow. Gdad just lied again.
“Can anyone spell `Desparation` ???? ”
I read this on my phone yesterday and died laughing but couldn’t respond. Please keep posting here, JeffDoto!
gdad @19 and most ill-informed @26 – a walk down memory lane:
Let me ask it again. Why do you support paying for the fat-ass “poor” who sit on couches in mid afternoon and enjoy their taxpayer financed fast-food meals watching Judge Joe Brown over the truly starving people in Africa who are foraging for roots and boiling tree bark for food?
Comment by Suzie — November 1, 2011 @ 10:53 am
So gdad spoke the truth and you-know-who-you-are just lied…I think from what I learned in Catholic school, lying is a sin…but that never stopped most ill-informed before…
So gdad spoke the truth and you-know-who-you-are just lied
Nope. Gdad lied and so did you. I never said every overweight person was lazy, but there sure are a lot of fatasses who get government benefits for being labeled “poor”.
You must have a lot of time on your hands to sift through the archives. I hope you aren’t one of said people sitting around collecting benefits.
#29 I sure ain’t going looking through the archives, but suzie regularly insults ANYBODY who is overweight. Anybody who reads this blog knows that’s the truth.
Something about Scott’s eyes remind me of another gopper….
Rush Limpballs is a lazy fatass. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
“Rush Limpballs is a lazy fatass.”
Your Hate is strong and leads you to the Dark Side.
bammy is a know-nothing wet noddle flacid impotent amateur dictator, just thought I’d throw that in there.
Rush Limpballs is a lazy fatass. Just thought I’d throw that in there.
This great man makes more in one show than you do in ten years, skippy.
#103 Contrasuzie,
I fixed it for you;
“Rush Limpballs is a lazy drug addicted fatass with erectile dysfunction problems. Just thought I’d throw that in there.”
Comment by Contrasuzie — May 19, 2012 @ 1:03 am
#29 – I memorialize your hatred, bigotry, and racism because in addition to those flaws, you are a Pathological Liar who denies having said so many hateful things – just trying to keep you “honest” – an almost herculean task.
#356 Just like racist homophobe troll suzie to judge greatness solely by how much money a person makes. What a sad existence she leads.
#34 “…flacid impotent…”
You mean Rash, who we know uses Viagra and has no children, eh, pammala? Good job pointing that out.
AIR HORN SOUNDS:
Comments 23-39, let’s play nice for a change….
jeez pammala…drag out some spellcheck if you’re going to attempt to insult our Harvard educated president why don’t you.
Of course, Obama wasn’t the one caught with a purloined stash of ‘little blue pills’ on his way to the DR in search of…god only knows what.
#34 pamadoodle posted, “just thought I’d throw that in there.”
Wrong verb – try “spew” – it is more fitting of what you do…
Hey Steve C. I meant to tell you. My neighbor is looking for a yard boy. She just let go her previous one after only a couple of months. He was an older guy so she had thought it might work out OK. Turns out he was a bum who hopped from job to job, and Monday was especiallly a tough day for him and….Oh…..wait aminute!…..er…never mind.
Can anyone spell `Desparation` ???? ”
I read this on my phone yesterday and died laughing but couldn’t respond. Please keep posting here, JeffDoto!
You’re not exactly one to talk, sweetcakes. I’ve thrown in a bunch of ‘nickles’ on your behalf.
LOL. I knew I could get Screwzie to have a hissy fit and make a post about how great she thinks Limpballs is.
I get bonus points for pammalapdog jumping in with her yipping. LOL.
Contra is just frustrated because I’ve installed software to prevent my avatar from being used by a second poster.
The poor guy has emailed Gravatar three times asking what the hell he’s doing wrong. LOL.
#44 Said the troll who can’t remember the difference between “there” and “their” or use the word “irony” properly.
#46 suzie wants to pretend to have sole control of slut avatar. That’s appropriate.
#48 Should have been “the slut avatar.”
Well lookie, someone finally paid their Cox bill.
46.”Contra is just frustrated because I’ve installed software to prevent my avatar from being used by a second poster.”
Would you give it back to Amanda Pflugrad if she e-mailed Gravatar or claim rights to it yourself?
“I’ve installed software”
No, you haven’t, but this fits right in with the rest of your crap.
I’d pay to hear Amanda Pflugrad’s opinion on the swill proffered next to her picture.
46 suzie wants to pretend to have sole control of slut avatar. That’s appropriate.
Wow. Gdad chimes in for “Contra”, and only those two have referred to MIss Pflugrad as a “slut”.
Will the coincidences never cease?
“I’d pay to hear Amanda Pflugrad’s opinion on the swill proffered next to her picture.”
I’ve heard she has a Facebook page. Messages are private, you know.
Art Hill, let’s find a way to get word to Ms. Pflugrad that she is discussed here from time to time and is welcome to post…
and add to the picture gallery!
(hi five to Contra!)
All I have to do is click a couple of times and BAM! my avatar is Pflugrad again. Then Screwzie says, “LOL. I baited Contra into changing it.”
To change or not to change? That is the question. Oh, what the hell. Let’s show Screwzie for the liar she is. She’ll probably claim it was a joke, but really, she’s going to wake up in the morning with that all too familiar slight hangover and wish she hadn’t written that post.
#43 suz,
That was a pretty feeble attempt at snaky sarcasm. Lords knows I taught you better than that. Kindly go back and re-read some of my older posts where I school you and show you how it’s properly done. Grant it, you still couldn’t carry my water for me across the street even if I put in Samsonite luggage with those cute little wheels on the bottom that old geezers like yourself tug behind them at the airport, but you could at least try to imitate my style so maybe you could amuse pammala and Sharon N. If you want to expose yourself as a half-wit that’s your right and I certainly won’t stand in your way.
Perhaps you could reach out to rush and ask him if his vast personal pharmacy contains any little blue pills for flaccid humor?
#54 Ho hum.
All I have to do is click a couple of times and BAM! my avatar is Pflugrad again.
Reeled in like a big tuna. LMAO.
What a sad life some people on here lead.
Why wouldn’t cutting and pasting another individual’s picture , and pretending it is yours, not be identity theft? The RWers are all stirred up over a “pretend” plagiarism issue regarding Eliz Warren and a recipe – but someone on here using a photo not there own, is okay?
I wonder what the actual person would think of another using their picture as an identifying avatar, thus portraying themselves as that person?
How’s that hangover, sweetcheeks? You can believe you ‘reeled me in’, but we all know that I just proved you have no problem lying.
And I believe I already called it when I posted that you would say you baited me. Kinda takes the wind out of your sails, huh?! LOL! You’re too easy to manipulate.
Even 13 Suns is proving you to be a liar. LOL!
You’re gonna LOVE my next avatar! LOL!
Why not ask her?
http://www.amandapflugrad.com/contact/
Or ask her here, she is quite popular, 932 “likes”.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Pflugrad/164634160222855
She also notes that her images are copyrighted. Just sayin’. You better go back to Sandra Dee, Suzie, she is at least dead.
64.”Why not ask her?”
I just did.
“She also notes that her images are copyrighted. Just sayin’. You better go back to Sandra Dee, Suzie, she is at least dead.”
OOPS! Too late, Screwzie! And you best not copy MY avatar, or I’ll tell Dan on you!
LOL!
“You better go back to Sandra Dee, Suzie, she is at least dead.”
And yet is probably a better fit than poor Amanda.
Dan, let us know when Pflugrad’s lawyers subpoena “Suzie’s” IP address.
ROTFLMFAO!!!
I sent Pflugrad the link and encouraged her to weigh in the avatar debacle. We’ll see…..
Contra, I love you, thanks for the only laugh I get here some days!
What a sad life some people on here lead
For once, Debbie’s right.
Does anybody think Miss Pflugrad has the time or inclination to bother with you clowns?
Why don’t we see?
Let’s see..that’s 11..12..13 comments in a row directed at little ol Suzie’s avatar.
Tell me again who runs this place.
“Sandi Saunders says:
Contra, I love you, thanks for the only laugh I get here some days!
Posted on May 21st, 2012″
;-D I does whats I cans, Sandi! LOL!
I too sent a link to the hi-jacked avatar…we shall see.
“Does anybody think Miss Pflugrad has the time or inclination to bother with you clowns?”
Perhaps not, but you sure as hell do. Day in and day out. Hell, I’ve got you so bent out of shape, you attempt to troll ME!
Again, I say: Screwzie doesn’t have the self-discipline to keep from posting on this blog she has nothing but disdain for. If it meant saving one starving Zimbabwean, she still couldn’t help herself.