Gov. Scott Envisions Changes To FCAT, Not Florida Health Care

MIRAMAR BEACH (CBS4/HERALD) — Referring to the FCAT on Friday, Governor Rick Scott was clear: "I think it's going to change a lot."

Addressing a conference of news reporters from five Southern states, Scott said Florida received many more parent complaints this year than in past years about the FCAT.

CBS4's news partner The Miami Herald reports Gov. Scott said Friday that schools might be doing too much of a good thing when it comes to student testing. He is starting a conversation with state education officials about changing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

"Parents and taxpayers expect measurement. We've got to measure, we've to find out who the best schools are," Scott said. "We have to have a good measurement system but we have to make sure we don't have too much of it."

Scott was also asked about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The Republican governor repeated that the state would not expand the Medicaid program to lower the number of uninsured residents, nor would Florida set up a state-run health exchange, allowing people who need insurance policies to shop for them.

"The problem with health care is cost, it's not an insurance issue. It's the fact that health care is way too high," Scott said. "If we want to make sure that people have access to health care, that they have the ability to purchase insurance, we're not going to do it by just saying, 'Oh, you get something.' We've got to figure out how to do it less expensively and with more accountability."

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