If someone has a new idea or theory about education, Florida
might be the state most willing to give it a shot. Florida
pioneered school choice, voucher programs, testing both student
and teacher performance and other reforms now considered
nationwide. Those ideas included the Florida Comprehensive
Assessment Test, a statewide test of math, reading and science
given to elementary, middle and high schoolers. The state
introduced the second generation of the test this year. Those
test results carry consequences, serving as the basis for school
report cards and teacher evaluations. Hillsborough County, which
includes Tampa, is using a $100 million Gates Foundation grant
to develop a new system to evaluate and train teachers. That
system will be applied to Florida teachers statewide in 2012.
Florida voters also approved a state constitutional amendment in
2002 limiting class sizes — as few as 18 students for
prekindergarten through grade 3. Voters reaffirmed the amendment
in 2010, but lawmakers have exempted scho