Florida
Is Florida testing students too much? Why there's not an easy answer
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — WPTV is continuing to dig deeper into Florida test scores just released from the state department of education. They show whether students are performing at grade level in a variety of subjects.
Education
Making the grade: Florida education leaders praise student test scores
3:21 PM, Jul 01, 2024
This was Florida’s second year of the progress monitoring testing style, measuring student success three times throughout the year.
Local school district leaders told WPTV education reporter Stephanie Susskind they really like it. But parents Susskind spoke to aren’t so sure yet.
“I just don’t get it. I truly don’t know how taking away one test to add three, there’s no logic to me. It doesn’t make sense,” said Palm Beach County mom of two Sheena Romano.
Romano shares a popular opinion with many parents Susskind heard from on Tuesday: there’s too much testing in school.
“You have the elementary school sitting three times a year for iReady to grade their progress. And then you have the [Florida Assessment of Student Thinking] to grade their progress. So it’s like, can we eliminate one?” Romano said.
North in St. Lucie County, Superintendent Dr. Jon Prince doesn’t disagree.
“Testing in Florida is rigorous,” Prince told Susskind. “I still say we’ve got a little too much assessment going on.”
But he does support the new style of progress monitoring testing using the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, or FAST. It’s given at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to measure what a student is learning and where they need to focus.
“It’s been a great blessing that we get these results back immediately. So we know exactly where these kids are weak,” Prince said.
Florida education leaders tout this state testing style as the first in the nation. It replaced the high stakes FSA exam, which was given once at the end of the year.
“We are finding there is a lot more interface between parents and schools,” Prince said. “OK, my kid didn’t do very well. What can I do as a parent? And what can we do to partner and help them perform better? So I think it’s helped not just student learning, but that interaction between parents and families and schools.”
While parents like Romano understand that perspective, they still feel there’s too much testing pressure on today’s students.
“I think a good teacher, just like a good parent, should be able to see the progress. If you are honed in on the children,” Romano said.
So why are these tests important? Not only do they measure student progress, but they are used to help determine school and district grades. Those are expected to be released later this summer.
Florida
Florida couple in alleged embryo mix-up have identified biological parents of ‘non-caucasian’ baby
A Florida couple who claimed a fertility clinic error led the woman giving birth to a “non-Caucasian child” who was not related to them said they have identified their child’s biological parents, according to reports.
“The results of testing delivered to us today confirm that our baby’s genetic parents have been identified,” Tiffany Score and Steven Mills said in a statement obtained by People on Wednesday.
Score and Mills filed a lawsuit in January against Fertility Center of Orlando and its head reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Milton McNichol, alleging that another patient’s embryo was implanted in Score’s uterus in April 2025.
The mix-up led to the birth of their now 4-month-old daughter, Shea, who is not biologically related to them, the filing alleged.
“This ends one chapter in our heartbreaking journey, but it raises new issues that will have to be resolved,” the statement continued. “In addition, questions about the disposition of our own embryos are still unanswered and are even more unlikely to ever be answered.”
“Only one thing is as absolutely certain today as it was on the day our daughter was born —we will love and will be this child’s parents forever.”
The couple added that they will respect the privacy of Shea’s biological parents and will keep their identities “confidential.”
Score and Mills, who are both white, stored three viable embryos at the Longwood clinic in 2020 for in vitro fertilization, a process that creates embryos and stores them until pregnancy.
Five years later, after an embryo was implanted, the couple gave birth to a “beautiful, healthy female child” on Dec. 11, 2025, according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 22 in Orange County Circuit Court and obtained by Law & Crime.
“Tragically, while both Jane Doe and John Doe are racially Caucasian, Baby Doe displayed the physical appearance of a racially non-Caucasian child,” the lawsuit said.
Further genetic testing confirmed that baby Shea had no biological relationship to either parent — raising questions about where their embryos had gone or whether another woman was impregnated with their biological child.
The new parents had an “intensely strong emotional bond” with their child during pregnancy and wished to keep the girl, but recognized she “should legally and morally be united with her genetic parents so long as they are fit, able and willing to take her,” the lawsuit stated.
Scarola told People, following Wednesday’s development, that Shea’s biological parents have not made any requests to take her into custody.
“Remaining questions about the fate of Tiffany and Steven’s unaccounted for embryos…are still pending,” Scarola said.
“The current legal proceeding will remain open to address those matters,” the attorney added. “However, we expect that we will now also begin to focus on the need for our clients to be compensated for the expenses they have incurred and the severe emotional trauma that they endured and will continue to experience.”
The Fertility Clinic of Orlando announced earlier this month that it would close by May 20 — a decision leadership said was made after “thoughtful consideration.”
Neither Scarola nor the clinic immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.
Florida
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Florida
Florida investigating AI role in mass shooting at university
Florida on Tuesday announced a criminal probe into whether artificial intelligence played a role in a deadly mass shooting at a university in the US state.
“If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing charges for murder,” Uthmeier said.
Florida law allows anyone who assists or counsels someone in the commission of a crime to be treated as an “aider and abettor” bearing the same responsibility as the perpetrator, according to Uthmeier.
In exchanges with ChatGPT, the accused shooter sought advice on what type of gun and ammunition to use, as well as where and when on campus a lot of people would likely be found, the state attorney general said during a press briefing.
“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.
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