Florida education bill would remove requirement to pass Algebra I, English exams to earn high school diploma

    TALLAHASSEE, Florida (WPTV) -- A new bill under consideration by Florida lawmakers proposes significant changes to the educational requirements for students in public schools.

Making headlines in the measure (Senate Bill 166) is the removal of the following requirements to earn a high school diploma:

Ending the requirement to pass the statewide, standardized grade 10 English Language Arts (ELA) assessment, or earn a concordant score Ending the requirement to pass the statewide, standardized Algebra I end-of-course assessment or earn a comparative score

The bill says students can instead meet diploma requirements through a combination of coursework that would include earning four credits in ELA and four credits in mathematics.

"A student must earn one credit in Algebra I and one credit in geometry," the bill says. "A student's performance on the statewide, standardized Algebra I end-of-course (EOC) assessment constitutes 30 percent of the student's final course grade."

The 107-page bill also seeks to improve "administrative efficiency" in public schools including "deleting a requirement for district school boards to provide an accountability plan to the Commissioner of Education under certain conditions."

The measure, called the "Administrative Efficiency in Public Schools," was filed Feb. 19 by state Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee.

WPTV spoke to Andrew Spar, the president of the Florida Education Association, to get his thoughts.

"There certainly should be assessments and testing, but it shouldn't be the end all be all like it is right now," Spar said. "This idea ... of relaxing some of that and getting down to a more normal space around testing is good for students."

This month, the bill has already unanimously passed two Senate committees — the Education Pre-K-12 Committee and the Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education.

As a parent, Melanie Repko questions whether standardized testing is the best assessment.

“I don’t think that should be the sole reason someone graduates,” Repko said.

She said her three kids attend school in Martin County and each one learns differently.

"I have one that really struggles with (standardized tests), and he might have all the correct answers and know what to do, but when he’s in a test setting he freezes up and doesn’t do well," Repko said.

Parents like Repko hope that if the bill becomes law, it could take some stress off children.

“They put way too much pressure on the kids for testing these days,” Repko said.

The measure now moves to the Fiscal Policy Committee, where if it moves ahead would go to a full Senate floor vote.

If it passes and is signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would take effect July 1.