Joke-of-the-Month: GOP Claims Credit for Higher Graduation Rates

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Florida House Republicans live in an alternate universe, where less spending equals more results.

Now they have the unmitigated chutzpah to take credit for the state schools’ higher graduation rates.

Republican efforts to hold teachers and students “accountable” have led to the continued increases in percentage of students graduating high school, according to Florida House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera.

“In the face of the state’s great fiscal challenges, it is clear that our Republican-led legislative efforts to emphasize accountability for our students and teachers are producing results in Florida’s schools,”  Lopez-Cantera told the state’s media. “Our goal has always been to give every child the opportunity to succeed. With higher standards and more accountability, our teachers and students have shown they have the ability to reach these goals and succeed.”

The Legislature’s continued focus is student learning growth as we work to prepare our state’s students to compete in a global economy,” Lopez-Cantera continued. “While all students are making strides, Florida’s minority students have made significant gains, continuing the effort to close the current achievement gap in our state. While there is still much work to do, we can be proud of the hard work of administrators, teachers, support staff and parents, who are integral in our students’ success.”

In Lopez-Cantera’s Fantasyland, the formula to get more students to graduate was easy.  Crack down on lazy children and those overpaid, under-qualified teachers.

Note to School Superintendent Robert Runcie:  Lopez-Cantera doesn’t need a high-paid PR executive to spin lead into gold. He is spinning so fast he must be getting dizzy!

Not a word about how the GOP House tries to squeeze every dollar out of education.  Not a word how Florida has one of the lowest-ranked public education systems in the country.

In Broward, the graduation rate dropped.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Lopez-Cantera believes that our failures are because we have a Democratic-dominated community.

What do graduation rates mean anyway?  Rural Coumbia County has an 87.2 percent rate,  better than Broward’s 76.9 percent.

Do we really believe that rural Columbia County’s schools, with its 9,700 students in North Florida’s “Land of Cotton Where Old Times they are Not Forgotten”, has smarter kids than Broward?

I believe that about as much as I believe Lopez-Cantera’s Republicans are the saviors of Florida education.



4 Responses to “Joke-of-the-Month: GOP Claims Credit for Higher Graduation Rates”

  1. Real Deal says:

    When only 77% of our teens graduate from high school, that means that 23% will experience lives of great economic hardship. In fact, not getting a high school diploma is basically the same as an economic death sentence. We cannot blame the failure of so many on them as students. This is our failure as adults. We must take responsibility for failing to put them in a position where they might at least have a chance at future success.

    77% is an attrocious high school graduation rate. It comforts me in no way that we are merely slightly better than the pre-existing abominination of a rate.

    There is nothing to celebrate about in this news.

  2. High School PTA says:

    The Republicans should take blame, not credit. They are responsible for the decline in every part of education if Florida.

  3. Time For A Change? says:

    The real joke around here is the bloated Broward County School System, and, unfortunately, the joke is on the students. Sky high school taxes and less than mediocre performance, mostly on the part of overpaid and too numerous administrators. Too much school board money is wasted on things other than education.

  4. Harold says:

    Imagine how much of your money the Broward Schools would piss away if they didn’t have the state equalized spending formula holding them back.