The Facts On the FCAT

The test scorers of Florida's FACT test must have a bachelor's degree, take training classes and be tested themselves. Florida State Senators Les Miller and Walter "Skip" Campbell discovered that the Florida Department of Education is using temps from Kelly Services. The Senators have filed a suit in the Leon County Circuit Court for a full disclosure. Miller and Campbell were told they are not allowed to know how the FCAT is graded because it is a "trade secret."

''Basic common sense would tell you that if I'm representing to the people of the state of Florida that I've got all these qualified people, I'd at least know what the qualifications are,'' Campbell told the newspaper.

"Common sense" and "education" are words not usually associated with Florida's poorly-rated system. The letter Les Miller received from the Department of Education made it clear there is no way of knowing if the test grader were qualified.

The letter said that "because the names or other identifiers of the graders are not needed for the management of the contract the Department does not require CTB/McGraw-Hill to provide this information."

I said it before. The Republican Party only cares about keeping the Christian conservative base happy. They want to see public schools fail. Ronald Reagan and the Contract of America Republicans wanted to do away with the Department of Education. Bill Bennett told former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt that he wanted public schools to fail and be replaced by private Christian schools. Bennett was Reagan's Secretary of Education.