Amid statewide controversy over testing for Florida students, Pasco County’s superintendent of schools is eliminating the mandatory requirement for end-of-course, or EOC, exams that were scheduled to start next week.
“I had to make a decision very quickly to get the pressure off our teachers and more importantly, off our students,” said superintendent Kurt Browning.
Pasco is the latest district statewide to cut back on the tests after a new state law no longer made them mandatory.
The amount of testing in Florida schools has become a hot topic for parents and politicians.
“I think it’s a little bit ridiculous the number – between FSA testing and the EOC exams that the kids have to take – it’s just a lot of hours spent outside of regular classroom instruction, of regular learning,” a parent Heather Tomasello said.
Browning said not requiring the six EOC tests will give teachers back about three weeks of instruction time in the classroom.
Teachers can still use the tests as a final exam if they choose, but won’t have to give the EOC test in addition to a final.
The Pasco school district spent $47,000 creating the tests – which were initially required by the state and set to launch this year – and a district spokesperson said the district will find a way to use them.
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