A true conservationist is one who knows that the world is not given by his fathers,
but borrowed from his children. – John James Audubon
A true conservationist is one who knows that the world is not given by his fathers,
but borrowed from his children. – John James Audubon
Indian River Guardian 
To live in a community where so many give by investing in our children is fantastic. However, all the hard work and dedication by these community “heroes” is being sabotaged. Education leaders are raising the requirements on the new test, the FSA. The test is not going to help our children, our educators or our community. This test will fail our children, fail our educators and fail our community.
Testing should detect areas of concern and areas of weakness in students. Once those issues are determined then action is taken to help educators increase success for those target areas. The FSA test does not sustain any integrity to enable educators to strengthen our students. Pass or fail is not a resolution that any education system should tolerate. It is our responsibility to unite and stand up to this education travesty. I am a person who believes that telling and teaching our children, our future that “they can” verses this new test theory that instills a thought process of “you can’t” will destroy our community.
There are children being withdrawing from school everyday in Indian River county by their parents to be homeschooled. There are teachers in our community who are quitting. This has to cease.
There is no difference in the knowledge of a student who passes a test by one point or who fails a test by one point. However, there is an unmeasurable difference in the student who struggles, who is given extra help by a teacher who knows how that particular students learns best, to take that student from a weak area to a level of mastering success. Our students, our children and our teachers are our future and I will not let an impossible test, born from politicians and big business, hinder the educators or the future of any child.
I’m just a mom. I’m just trying to inform my community of the education crisis. I’m just a mom trying to organize a group of concerned citizens to speak up, stand up and unite. I’m just a mom who found my son hanging by a belt from his bunk bed after he failed a test by one point. I’m just a mom who got to my nine year old son just in time. I’m just a mom who wants every teacher to teach and every student to have the chance to succeed. I’m just a mom who needs the support of our community. I’m just a mom.
Our education system is in crisis and that is without a doubt. There is no larger factor in our community that can hinder business, employment, crime, government assistance and real estate values like the rating and score of a school. This FSA test will only hinder our entire community. It’s beyond unfair, it’s the creation of educational corruption. Our landscape is about change here in Indian River county.