FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
"every political insider should be reading right now."

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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Not "Nearly Far Enough"

    Secrecy has been one of the many reasons the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is so easily reviled by parents and others. Since the high-stakes test was first administered in 1998, the Department of Education has kept every edition sealed. Revealing previous editions would require the state to write new ones, it has argued, and a new set of tests for every grade would cost about $10 million. Keeping them secret is a money-saver. But it's also been a way to keep scrutiny of the controversial test to a minimum. It's ironic that the FCAT, as the cornerstone of Gov. Jeb Bush's fixation on more "accountability" in public schools, has also been the least accountable tool wielded by the Department of Education.

    Whatever the reason for secrecy, the state's stance was indefensible. Now, the Department of Education is modifying its course. As early as this week, the department will begin making some tests available on its Web site (fldoe.org) for public viewing.

    The belated thaw doesn't go nearly far enough.
    "FCAT secrecy, still".

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