The Values of the Foundation for Florida's Future (2)

 The Foundation for Florida's Future really likes grade things.  I don't know if this tendency is an expression of their fundamental values as policy makers so much as it is an attempt to transpose their political agenda into what seems like a more objective/neutral system of espousing value judgments.

The Foundation prides itself on establishing objective measures for data-driven accountability to promote statistically-evident increases in student learning.

To this end, in consultation with the Foundation, Florida has adopted an education policy that calculates grades for each and every public school in the state based on student proficiency levels (measure by the FCAT).  The state then uses these grades as the basis for dolling out funding.  "A" schools get the most money, "B" schools a little less, and so on.  Here's the Foundation's reasoning: "Funding that recognizes and rewards progress will result in rising student achievement and more efficient and productive school systems."  Not only do "failing schools" receive less funding--the teachers at these schools are required to attend weekend workshops learning how to teach the FCAT and must devote a minimum amount of their class time FCAT practice questions.  In this way, the grade-policy appropriates the qualitative tradition of school grading systems as a euphemistic means to proscribe quantitative (money and time) rewards and punishments, whereby (administrative) data becomes more knowledgeable than (disciplinary) knowledge.  

But schools aren't the only thing the Foundation likes to grade.  There's another thing, which I just discovered on the Foundation for Florida's Future website.  And it's is almost too funny to believe.  The Foundation gives a grade to each of Florida's state legislators based on their performance related to educational policy.  So, as I click on the link to these "grades," I'm wondering just how great the disparity is going to be between Democrats and Republicans.  And sure enough, the grades for Democrat senators: 1 "C"; 2 "D"; 10 "F"...really, 10 F's out of 13.  And, of course, the Foundation scored all but a handful of Republican senators as "A" and even "A+"...this so-called report card is worth seeing for yourself.