"Florida kids outperform the other states when it comes to math and reading proficiency, and the number of students graduating on time. "

Texas pulled the old two step back in the early days of "no child left behind" where they would identify the children that would not pass the standardized tests, hold them back an extra year for the grade before the test and then magically after that second year advance them above the testing year citing "tremendous progress" in that extra year. It took a whistleblower to spill the beans on that scheme.

Only testing in certain grades make this type of scheme effective. What you find is a lot of schools "teaching to the test" where other subjects are ignored in favor of focusing on the topics that are covered by the test. It results in students that are lacking in overall education.

"In Florida, 35% of all students are chronically absent. So even worse than the national average," said Hamilton.

These standardized tests are destroying children.