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&4 Teaching Minds Martin County School District won't settle for B July 27, 2007 STUART—The Martin County School District was just short of earning a perfect report card from the state in late June. But the district, which earned 18 A’s and one B, has a chance to earn straight A’s. School officials are appealing J.D. Parker School of Science, Math & Technology’s B grade. The Stuart elementary school had enough points to be considered an “A” school, but because the lowest 25 percent of the school’s students didn’t make learning gains, the state dropped the grade to a B. Martin had the second-highest percentage of A schools among the state’s 67 counties. Gilchrist County had the highest percentage of A’s, though the county in northeastern Florida only has four schools. The district is also filing an appeal for Warfield Elementary in Indiantown. The school received an A, but did not make adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, state data shows. The result of all this is that teachers are now being “held accountable” for their teaching, which is another way of saying, Get those test scores up or else. The following is from an article on the front page of the New York Times (December 23, 2007): Mr. Obama, for instance, in a speech last month in New Hampshire denounced the law (NCLB) as “demoralizing our teachers.” But he also said it was right to hold all children to high standards. “The goals of this law were the right ones,” he said. When Mr. Edwards released an education plan earlier this year, he said the No Child law needed a “total overhaul.” But he said he would continue the law’s emphasis on accountability. And at the elementary school in Waterloo, Mrs. Clinton said she would “do everything I can as senator, but if we don’t get it done, then as president, to end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind.” HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023830