There truly is never a dull moment in Florida's education system and this week was no different. From testing drama in Miami to legislative battles over school choice in Tallahassee, here's a recap of what made headlines this week in Florida education:
TESTING, TESTING OR NOT
Middle and high school students walked into their classrooms Monday ready to take the language arts and mathematics portion of the Florida Standards Test, but testing was canceled after they were unable to log onto the FSA because the test's servers were down.
According to the Florida Department of Education, American Institutes for Research, the vendor responsible for the FSA, made unauthorized changes to the test over the weekend, rendering the test inaccessible to students statewide.
Monday's glitch hasn't been the only technical malfunction to hit the FSA. In March the test went down, leaving some students unable to complete the assessment while others couldn't even get into the test at all. The FDOE blamed a cyber attack for the issues.
Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart was not happy over the latest set of problems to hit the FSA and vowed the department wouldn't let the problems go unanswered for.
"The change was not necessary to the administration of the Florida Standards Assessment," she said. "This is unacceptable on the part of AIR. We will hold AIR accountable for the disruption they have caused this state."
IS FSA DISRUPTION GROUNDS FOR TESTING INVALIDATION?
After the second round of testing errors hit the FSA this week, Sunshine State News took a closer look at the official FSA testing administration manual.
The document contains a specific clause about the effect of testing disruptions -- more specifically, it says for students who are disrupted during testing due to a circumstance out of their control, test invalidation may be considered if they feel "his or her performance was significantly affected by the disruption.
SSN reached out to the FDOE to see if there was a statewide stance on the issue, but a representative from the department said it would be up to schools and districts to decide whether invalidation was appropriate.
SSN contacted several school districts to see what their course of action would be if their students decided to invalidate their tests, but most districts seemed in the dark over the provision and had not returned calls as of this article's release.
MIAMI-DADE WAVES GOODBYE TO ELEMENTARY END-OF-COURSE ASSESSMENTS
The Miami-Dade School District, the state's largest district (and the fourth largest nationwide) took a big step against excessive testing this week when it decided to eliminate all elementary end-of-course assessment tests for its students.
Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho made the announcement Thursday.
"Today's announcement should come as welcomed news to everyone who recognizes that too much testing deprives our students of valuable instruction time," said Carvalho. "In making these decisions, we've taken a logical and responsible approach to address the concerns of students, teachers and parents."
Carvalho has been particularly outspoken against excessive testing statewide, making it clear he believes there's simply too much testing in Florida.
The South Florida School District joins several others like Pasco, Orange and Seminole, all of whom have gotten rid of end-of-course assessments for elementary school students. Miami-Dade is the largest district statewide, however, to eliminate elementary school end-of-course assessments to date.
The FDOE said it was fully supportive of the decision to slash nearly 300 elementary school tests.
"[Miami-Dade] wants to take a different approach and we are supportive of districts making those decisions," said Meghan Collins, Florida Department of Education communications director. "It's certainly within any district's rights [to get rid of EOC tests."
GO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO
A bill which made its way through the Florida House Friday would allow students in Florida's charter schools to attend any school regardless of which district it's in, giving Floridians more options of where to send their children to school.
HB 1145 would allow parents to send their children to any school of their choice as long as the school was below capacity (90 percent). The catch: parents would be responsible for transporting their kids to and from school.
If passed, the legislation would take effect during the 2016-2017 school year.
FLORIDA GIVES OK TO MORE FUNDING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS
Florida's special needs students will be receiving more money under a new bill headed to Gov. Rick Scott's office for signing.
SB 602 would provide educational scholarships to families of students with intellectual disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome among others. Parents could secure up to $10,000 of funding to use for educational purposes from age 3 to postsecondary education.
The personal scholarship funds created under the legislation would provide for private tutoring, therapy and tuition costs. SB 602 was one of several bills addressing special needs students across the state which passed through the Legislature this week.
Senate President Andy Gardiner has been committed to pushing special needs issues during this year's legislative session.
The series of bills we've done today ... is a road map, said Gardiner. We say to that family that if you follow these paths there will be a place for you.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen by email atallison@sunshinestatemews.comor follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
