Florida education officials canceled state exams earlier this year as public schools shifted abruptly online at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Gov. Jeb Bush doesn’t want to see that happen again.
He participated in a virtual panel discussion Thursday as part of the National Charter Schools Conference.
“If we excuse away the achievement gap and say it’s not fair to test, then you’re going to see a going back to a system where we had low expectations for low-income kids,” Bush said Thursday during a virtual panel discussion as part of the National Charter Schools Conference. “And I will not be a party to that. I will do whatever I can to make sure that we do not abandon accountability.”
Bush sees testing as crucial to making sure students receive an equitable education, regardless of family’s income.
The former Republican governor is architect of Florida’s school grading system — where student test scores are used to evaluate school performance. He also championed the law that says third-graders must pass a state reading test before advancing to fourth grade.
