Page 40 - 4-17-15 Friday's Edition

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Superintendent Sees Reduction
Tampa GMWA Chapter To Host State Musical
Of Testing As Positive Move
The Tampa Chapter of the Gospel Musical Workshop of America (GMWA) will host the State of Florida GMWA chapters in a gospel musical on Saturday, April 18, 2015.
The musical will be held at St. John Cathedral, 3401 E. 25th Ave., Tampa (33605).
There will be choirs from Daytona Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. These choirs are preparing for the National
Gospel Music Workshop Con- vention that will be held in New Orleans July 26-31, 2015.
The choirs are combined to form the GMWA State of Florida Mass Choir. The community is invited to attend the event and enjoy the singing and praises unto Jesus Christ.
Carlton Brown, Chapter Representative of the State Choir welcomes everyone to wit- ness this event.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Tuesday, Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 7069 into law. This new legis- lation reduces the number of assessment tests and ad- dresses other school-related is- sues such as the school calendar.
Governor Scott said, “This legislation reduces the number of tests our students take, including the 11th grade English Language Arts test that we eliminated this year through an Executive Order in February. I agree with many teachers and parents who say we have too many tests, and while this legislation is a great step forward, we will keep working to make sure Florida students are not over tested.”
Jeff Eakins, Hillsborough County School Superintendent said, “We are very positive about the signing of the bill be- cause it provides some flexibil- ity with local decision-making. It provides things that we can use to our advantage, such as the start of the school year.
“We really appreciate the flexibility because it allows us a chance to look at remedia-
JEFF EAKINS Superintendent, Hillsbor- ough County School District
tion for some students and we don’t have to lock them into certain classes and there is less testing for all for the different subjects.”
However, Eakins said he believes there still needs to be some discussion among legis- lators concerning the testing issues.
“We currently have 2,000 students in high school who are required to take assess- ment tests on computers. But, we don’t have one location where all of the students can take the tests at the same time. So, while the students may tests for 5 or 6 days, the testing disrupts the schools for about 30 days, causing us to close media centers and other places so that the students can have access to computers.”
MS. DORETHA EDGECOMB Hillsborough County School Board Member
School Board member Doretha Edgecomb said, “This is a first good step. The legislators finally heard the voices of the educators, par- ents and even the students. But, we must continue to look at how the spectrum of the tests and how those results are used in the best interest of our students.
“We have got to stop, take a deep breath, and ask our- selves how does testing fit in the most important parts of the teaching-learning process. The students must learn the materials before they can be assessed to determine if the student has learned the infor- mation. Testing is important, but it should not be the focal point, teaching and learning should be the focal point.”
Governor To Take Legal Action Against President For Stopping Federal Funds For Healthcare
TALLAHASSEE --- On Thursday, Governor Rick Scott announced that he will take legal action against Presi- dent Barack Obama’s federal healthcare agency for stopping Low Income Pool (LIP) health- care funds to Florida in order to force the state to take Legislative action to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
Governor Scott said, “It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal healthcare
dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Oba- macare. The President’s health- care agency sent us a letter this week saying the ‘the future of LIP’ and ‘Medicaid expansion are linked.’ But, the Supreme Court has already ruled in NFIB v. Se- belius that the President cannot force Medicaid expansion on states. In fact, the Court ruled that the President could not use ‘gun to the head’ approaches in pushing for Medicaid expansion.
PAGE 24-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015