Please email OCPS Chairman, Bill Sublette, and tell him to follow the example of Lee Co. and OPT OUT
In the article below, Bill Sublette is SCARED!!! The politicians are sensing their power is slipping!!!! I want people across Florida, to email Bill Sublette with messages in support of opting out of the corporate testing taking over our schools!
Bill.Sublette@ocps.net
As the brave Rick Roach, member of the OCPS school board, said the Tea Party was illegal in 1776. He says that Rosa Parks probably broke the law. It's time to get the OCPS school board to listen to parents. Sublette has called out the 200,000 parents in Orange County by claiming he has only heard from about a dozen in support of opting out. It's time to show HIM that parents are rising up and taking back our schools!!!
This is our time! This is our moment! Parents Across Florida - WAKE UP!!! The Berlin Wall fell when people least suspected it. Now it's time to end the testing craze just when people least expected it!!!
Bill Sublette was in the legislature and he is an architect of this fucking testing madness. He feels threatened!!! And Rick Scott is a major part of the problem. This could be a MAJOR campaign issue as a ton of people are tired of all these tests!!!!
ARTICLE...Scroll down to Sublette's comments.
http://www.news-press.com/story/news/education/2014/08/28/opting-tests-next-lee-county-schools/14743835/
SNIP
At least one Orange County school board member is applauding his Lee County counterparts' decision to opt out of state testing.
"I'm very proud, not that they thumbed their nose at the legislature, but that they have the most important commodity in mind: the children," said Rick Roach.
Calling testing "nonsense" that boils an entire school year down to one moment, Roach is proud Lee County board members took a stand. "Unfortunately it takes this kind of action." The legality of the much-debated decision has been questioned, but Roach compared it to other historical acts of disobedience.
"Throwing the tea back in the ocean was illegal, Rosa Parks probably broke the law," Roach said. "At some point people have to say 'This is bad.'"
The chair of Orange County school board, Bill Sublette, came out against the decision. Roach said he feels he is the only member of the county's eight-member board that supports opting out of testing.
Roach said he has been in touch with Lee County school board member Don Armstrong since this topic was entertained earlier this month.
Board members and parents had to stand up, Roach said, and this is a topic that will not go away. "It's the elephant in the room."
- Jason Cook
Update 3 p.m.
The chair of the Orange County school board had strong words regarding the Lee County school board's decision to opt out of state testing.
"There will be very, very serious repercussions in terms of funding," said Bill Sublette. The state legislature does not take "being slapped in the face" lightly, he added.
This decision is contrary to state law and the school board will learn the "harsh reality" that state legislature controls school funding.
Learning of the news Thursday, Sublette said the decision puts the other 66 school districts that are complying with the law in an awkward position. "It sends the incorrect message that groups can opt out. They are making a statement that will ultimately prove meaningless."
As chair, Sublette said all but one of his eight-member board agrees that opting out is a bad move for Orange County. Fewer than "a couple dozen" families in the county have spoken out in favor of opting out, he said.
Sublette summarized his thoughts on the decision as incredibly astounded, dismayed and angry.
While he wasn't sure what repercussions may come from the governor's office, Sublette is sure there will be funding cuts. "There's going to be a significant funding penalty to force them back into compliance," he said.
Lee County's decision gives all other school boards in Florida "a black eye," Sublette said.