The Leon County School district has joined several others in passing a resolution against standardized testing. Districts around Florida are growing increasingly frustrated with a state mandate for end-of-course exams in all subject areas. In Leon alone, the district is looking at more than 1200 new exams.
“We’re not going to make it on the EOC’s. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think many of the districts in the state will accept those that already had a bank of them created," says Leon Superintendent Jackie Pons. He says the district is only a third of the way to completing the tests.
"The whole point of the EOC’s are pushing districts over the edge. The resources were not provided to create these.”
The Leon school board has twice postponed a workshop on standardized testing. Supporters of the end-of-course exams say districts have misinterpreted the law and they can substitute traditional final exams in some areas. The Florida School Boards Association has come out with its legislative priority list-and the issue of how much testing is too much is at the top.
