Senate assessment/graduation bill favorably reported by Senate PreK-12 Committee

SB 4, the Florida Senate’s bill on assessment and graduation that includes chemistry or physics as a requirement for high school graduation and gives deadlines for implementation of end-of-course tests in chemistry and physics has been reported favorably by that chamber’s PreK-12 Committee by a party line 6-2 vote.

The next stop for SB 4 will be the Senate’s Policy and Steering Committee on Ways and Means.

Some highlights:

Democratic Senator Wilson, who voted “no” and argued vehemently against the bill, said quite correctly that finding chemistry and physics teachers would be a big issue.

Rocky Hanna, Principal of Leon High School in Tallahassee, argued against the bill, saying that if chemistry had been required for graduation when he was a student he would not have graduated.  Hanna, who once argued unsuccessfully that beginning guitar lessons should qualify for honors credit in Leon County’s high schools, should have stayed in his office today.  A great teacher is supposed to encourage his students to do better than he did, not use his shortcomings to justify those of his students.

Update (6:10 pm): If you are wondering what all the fuss is about over SB 6, the bill on teacher employment and merit pay, check out Leslie Postal’s story on today’s vote at the Orlando Sentinel.