Another FCAT Blooper and A New "Panel of Experts"

How corrupt and incompetent does it have to get before parents say, Hell NO? Last year's staggering gains would have never been challenged without this year's staggering losses:

State education officials said Wednesday they botched one of last year's FCAT tests, potentially affecting everything from school grades and student retention to whether Florida schools passed federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act.

As a remedy, they promised that from now on, an independent panel of experts would audit every FCAT each year to make sure there are no future glitches.

"This is going to be a new practice from this point forward, " Education Commissioner Jeanine Blomberg said in a press conference this morning. "We feel like this is one more step in terms of best practices."

Wednesday's announcement overshadowed the release of FCAT scores in reading, math and science and promised to put the FCAT - already unpopular with parents and teachers - even more under the microscope.