March 18, 2015

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing for clarification regarding Good Cause Exemptions and statutes surrounding
third grade promotion and retention. For clarification, and to ensure that statute is not
decontextualized, I've read carefully the entire K-20 Education Code, with specific focus on
Chapter 1008, Assessment and Accountability. I am summarizing and citing several sections of
the law, along with communications from individuals at the Florida Department of Education
(FLDOE). These email communications, as you know, are available via public records request if
you wish to obtain the original documents.
According to a Memo released on March 10, 2015 to Brevard Public School (BPS)
Elementary Principals: Dr. Binggeli (BPS Superintendent) received a call from Chancellor Lyons
clarifying the issue of third grade promotion. This memo indicated that DOE leadership decided
that local districts will have decision-making power over promotion of students without FSA
English Language Arts (ELA) scores. Brevard schools, according to the memo, decided to
handle all cases of students who do not have a 3rd Grade FSA ELA score by pursuing a Good
Cause Exemption as has been done in the past.
Im sure you can appreciate the need for a uniform application of state law in the promotion
of students who meet the statutory requirements for grade level promotion.
In Chapter 1000, General Provisions of Florida law, the policies and guiding principles are
defined. 1000.02(1)(e) indicates that it is the policy of the legislature to provide for the
decentralization of authority to the schools. The statute in 1000.02(2) clarifies the guiding
principles, as including a coordinated, seamless systemthat is student-centered in every facet,
and maximizes education access, by provid[ing] for local operational flexibility.
While there is flexibility granted by state law, assuredly no school, district, principal, district
official, or superintendent wants to end up defending the violation of the equal protection clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment in the manner of Tennessee v. Lane, 541 US 509 or Locke v.
Davey, 540 US 712. Such an egregious abuse of power, inflexibility on the part of the district,
and waste of funds would be indefensible.
When making promotion decisions, state statute offers specific guidelines with respect to
progression:
1008.25(1), discusses INTENT:
It is the intent of the Legislature that each students progression from one grade to another be
determined, in part, upon satisfactory performance in reading, writing, science, and
mathematics.
The argument herein is made for progression of students who are, as defined in 1008.25(1),
meeting the requirements of satisfactory performance in reading, writing, science, and
mathematics.

1008.25 (4) deals specifically with assessment and remediation.

Section (a) describes specific conditions under which a student with deficiencies must have
his or her deficiencies remediated.
1008.25 (4)(b) describes the specific process for remediating a reading deficiency through the
use of the a comprehensive reading plan which is required by s. 1011.62(9) (research-based
reading instruction allocation). This comprehensive reading plan is named specifically in section
(d) of 1011.62 as Just Read, Florida! Office created pursuant to s. 1001.215.
There is no provision of the law under which the comprehensive reading plan, and the
resulting portfolio described by the Just Read, Florida! Office is required for a student who does
not have a documented reading proficiency.
Further, 1008.25 (6) reads
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is not the sole determiner of
promotion and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews, and assessments are
available to the child to assist parents and the school district in knowing when a child is
reading at or above grade level and ready for grade promotion.
Acknowledging that the standardized assessment itself must work in conjunction with other
measures to determine promotion [1008.25(6)], we must move on to 1008.25(6)(c) to clarify
promotion for students with no documented reading deficiency. This statute reads:
documentation shall be submitted from the students teacher to the school principal that
indicates that the promotion of the student is appropriate and is based upon the students
academic record. In order to minimize paperwork requirements, such documentation
shall consist only of the existing progress monitoring plan, individual educational plan, if
applicable, report card, or student portfolio (emphasis added).
As the specious connection to the Just Read, Florida! definition of portfolio has already
been established for proficient readers, and as the word portfolio is not defined in the statute,
the Plain Meaning Rule must apply. If the district chooses not to use report cards for promotion,
portfolio in this context must be used with its traditional educational meaning; that is, to mean
a collection of a students best work, aligned to the standards, and used to evaluate the learning
of the student. For example, a portfolio might include: writing assignments, journal entries,
formative and summative assessments, short and long term projects, multimedia presentations,
digital artifacts of learning, etc.
It is my respectful request that you, as an educational leader, put the best interest of students
first and make promotion decisions based on report cards and/or true teacher-created portfolios
as defined above. In so doing, you are honoring your ethical imperative, as outlined by the
Florida Department of Education in Rule 6A-10.080. This code of ethics requires that your
primary professional concern will always be for the student and for the development of the
student's potential. Unnecessary retention or remediation of students is a clear violation of the
Florida Code of Ethics, a misrepresentation of state statute, and a violation of the equal
protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

I look forward to your decision to honor your ethical imperative and anticipate a response
that outlines thoughtful promotion decisions for Floridas third grade students.
Respectfully,
Your Name