In a blow to parents seeking to have their children “opt out” of Florida’s high-stakes tests, an appeals court has ruled that school districts have a right to hold 3rd graders back when they score badly on a state reading test.
The court threw out a ruling by a lower-court judge who said a handful of districts must consider options other than students’ performances on the Florida Standards Assessment when deciding whether to promote a student. The three-judge panel concluded that the state had a “compelling interest” to make sure students do not have a reading deficiency.
Last year, the parents of more than a dozen children sued so that their children would not have to repeat the 3rd grade. The lawsuit maintained that the children should have been promoted because they got good grades and demonstrated they could read at grade level.
