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Florida Gov. Scott Suspends 11th Grade FSA Test

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - Any parent of a school-aged child knows the amount of testing in schools is intense in the state of Florida, but Tuesday morning, Governor Rick Scott issued an Executive Order to suspend a standardized test for the state's 11th graders.

Scott's order officially suspends the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) for English language arts until the Florida legislature has an opportunity to consider legislation to eliminate the mandate.

Click here to watch Natalia Zea's report. 

The elimination of the test follows an investigation conducted by Commissioner Pam Stewart that recommended a reduction in the number of tests Florida students in public schools are required to take.

The governor last week said that there was too much testing going on in Florida's schools. He said then he planned to use his executive power to stop the administration of the English language arts test for high school juniors.

The test is based on new standards drawn primarily from Common Core standards. But some school districts said they would not suspend the test without an official order from state officials.

Scott wants legislators to repeal the law that authorized the test, but it's not clear if that will occur.

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says he's been advocating cutbacks to standardized testing for years.

"What I object to is having multiple tests to test the same standards. We can be better than this," he told CBS4's Natalia Zea.

High school juniors say they are already up to their eyeballs in exams and they and many parents welcome the Governor's plan for testing relief.

"I think it will definitely increase the time we spend learning, instead of testing," said iPrep Academy Junior Steven Espinoza.

Mother of 5, and grandmother of 6, Teresa Blanco is all for doing away with some of the assessment testing.

"I think it's the best thing to do because this is too much. Back in the day when I was going to school it was not that hard."

To read the Department of Education investigation report click here: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/12003/urlt/CommAssessmentInvestigationReport.pdf

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