Education Governor: DeSantis Ending Outdated FSA
March 16th, 2022 Updated 9:37 A.M. ET
ST PETERSBURG (FCV) – Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) officially eliminated the Florida Standards Assessment and replaced it with a progress monitoring system by signing H.B. 1048.
DeSantis was joined by Florida House of Representatives Speaker Chris Sprowls, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, and other legislative leaders.
H.B. 1048 was sponsored by Senator Manny Diaz, Jr. (R) and Representative Rene Plasencia (R).
Florida is the first state in the country to transition fully to a progress-monitoring system in an effort for more school accountability.
Beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, students in Florida will have three short check-ins rather than once-per-year high-stakes tests for English and Mathematics – the old system.
“While much of the country has struggled to even open schools, Florida’s education leaders are continuing to push ahead and better help students, parents and teachers to close achievement gaps,” DeSantis said.
“In three years, we have eliminated Common Core, invested approximately $2 billion to increase teacher pay, focused on literacy and created civic standards that empower our students to become great citizens. By signing this bill, we are setting an example for the nation.”
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson said that “This great legislation addresses concerns we have heard from parents and teachers about the kinds of high-stakes testing we have in our schools.”
“Testing is an important accountability tool for schools, teachers and students, but it doesn’t do much good to wait until the end of the year to find out a student has been having trouble. Transitioning to progress monitoring will provide more timely information about how students are doing throughout the school year so that any struggles can be addressed quickly.”
Sprowls remarked that “Even while Florida is ranked third in the nation in student achievement, we refuse to stop there and simply maintain status quo because Florida kids and families deserve the best.”
“This bill is about parents and kids — taking away the stress of a one-size-fits all test, giving each student a chance to succeed as an individual and empowering parents with the knowledge they need to help their kids reach their greatest potential.”
The bill to end the Florida Standards Assessment comes 3 years after DeSantis eliminated Common Core on January 31, 2019.
Since then, Florida has risen to third in the country for K-12 according to Education Week. After eliminating Common Core, Florida instituted B.E.S.T. (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards.
DeSantis also achieved $2 billion in teacher pay raises, elevating the state to one of the top in the nation in this class.
Florida was also the first state during the COVID-19 pandemic to reopen schools in August, 2020 to full in-person learning, important for a child’s growing communication skills.
