FCAT testing—for good or bad—is a fact of life that is simply not going away. The philosophical underpinnings of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test are admirable. A sound curriculum of basic knowledge and skills built around recognized educational standards, serves as a benchmark for student learning. Regular testing of student progress provides a measure for successful instruction. Accountability is not something to fear or avoid.

But, of course, the FCAT is not without its problems. When such high stakes testing becomes the one and only measure of student success, problems are sure to follow. Even worse, when a teacher's value is weighed by the performance of an ever-changing group of students and when school funding is tied directly to test scores, the educational goals of student testing are set aside for larger political concerns.

As a school board member, Jim Barr will lead the effort to "rethink" the FCAT and its role in our schools. The "fall out" of high stakes testing—the tendency to abandon time-tested curriculum in favor of "teaching the test" and the disincentive for teachers who work with students who need the most help—must be addressed. The threat to extra-curricular activities—especially the arts and music—must be answered. Bay county's children deserve a well-rounded education, filled with the same range of learning opportunities that past generations enjoyed.