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Leaders threaten boycott on FCAT Bush told to reassess the exam and its impact
BY CHARLES RABIN Dozens of South Florida's community activists and politicians on Sunday threatened a boycott of several major industries if Gov. Jeb Bush doesn't rectify recent FCAT results that could keep thousands of high school seniors, mostly blacks and Hispanics, from graduating. The targets: the state's tourism, sugar and citrus industries. The plan: to spend the next 10 days traveling the state and informing communities, then begin a boycott May 22 if Bush doesn't find a way to scale back the numbers of students who may not graduate. On Sunday, community elders and elected officials, from former Miami City Commissioner Athalie Range to House Minority Whip Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, gathered at a Northwest Miami-Dade church, and signed a letter asking Bush to ``reassess the application and the resulting impact of this exam.'' Then one by one they approached a lectern and explained their views of how unfair the test is to blacks and Hispanics. Some said they believed it was created that way. ''We will not continue to support a government economically that will not educate our children,'' Bishop Victor Curry said. Last week education officials announced that 13,000 high school seniors statewide, 5,900 in Miami-Dade and Broward, would not graduate because they failed the FCAT. Additionally, 43,000 third-graders, 11,900 from Miami-Dade and Broward, failed the test, threatening their advancement to the fourth grade. This is the first year high school seniors and third-graders must pass the test in order to graduate. It's part of a controversial ''A+ Plan'' the governor introduced in 1998 that he said will improve the state's education system, considered one of the worst in the nation. Speaking Sunday at Curry's New Birth Baptist Church, Wilson directed her anger at the state's top lawmaker. Wilson said she couldn't understand how the governor could find money for 4,000 new prison beds but not for education or social services. ''I am outraged. I am livid today. I know exactly what this is all about. I am upset with the governor of the state of Florida because he knew from the beginning who was going to pass and who wasn't going to pass,'' Wilson shouted. ``It sounds to me like somebody is being set up. You will not destroy my children. If you do not adjust the FCAT, we are going to boycott this state in a way you've never seen or never heard.'' Bush couldn't be reached for comment Sunday. HISTORY OF BOYCOTTS For Curry, who initiated Sunday's get-together, it's the most recent in a history of boycott threats over the years. The most famous: an early 1990s boycott of the tourism industry after several city of Miami officials snubbed South African President Nelson Mandela during his visit here. That boycott proved effective, costing the county millions of dollars, and was instrumental in the creation of Miami Beach's first black-owned hotel. In 2000, Curry led a group of civil-rights activists who said they would boycott if the county didn't toughen a civilian-oversight panel for police. Nothing came of that. But with the tourism industry reeling from the recent war and the Sept. 11 attacks, the threat of a boycott is not welcome news to local or tourism officials. County Manager Steve Shiver said he would rather reserve comment for the governor but said ``obviously it would create some difficulties.'' The release of last weeks FCAT results has also sent local politicians scrambling to come up with solutions. AN ALTERNATIVE One idea that may be gaining momentum is to offer students who fail the FCAT the chance of admission to a community college if they pass a standard college-entrance exam. It's a bill Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Miami, got through the House of Representatives unanimously last session, but it didn't clear the Senate. On Sunday, he said he intends on bringing that same bill back to the legislature. ''These are kids who have met all the high school requirements,'' said Arza, who is a high school teacher. ``That's what gives me a great deal of problem. The fact that we're basing their future on one test.'' Miami-Dade Community College President Eduardo Padrón said letting the students in creates a quandary, as he continues to lobby the state for his underfunded college. ''The problem is if you don't, what would be the future of these kids,'' Padrón said. ``Even with a high school diploma, if you don't get some post-secondary school education you're likely to live in poverty.'' The Rev. Richard Bennett, executive director of the African American Christian Clergy, spoke his mind Sunday. ''My grandfather has suffered wrong. My father has suffered wrong. I've suffered wrong. Now they want our kids to suffer wrong,'' Bennett said. ``We're for real Governor Bush -- and we're coming.'' |
