Testing in Sunshine State schools is a big concern for parents. The new computerized standardized tests in Florida hit a problem early on in March. Students and administrators couldn’t log on to the tests and some school districts postponed the exams.

A state representative blamed the delays squarely on a cyber-attack on the system. Rep. H. Marlene O’Toole claimed:

    "On the testing problems, many of you may have read in the media, that the problem was not that of a vendor, the problem was not that of the test materials itself, it was the product of a cyber attack."

PolitiFact Florida rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Joshua Gillin says the claim rates MOSTLY FALSE. According to Gillin, the claim misses the mark.

“The company that administered the test actually did a software upgrade the day before and that caused a lot of slowdowns and lock ups and kept people from logging in entirely to take that test,” Gillin said.

That initial problem started on March 2nd. A cyber-attack compounded the problems later in the week.

Several days later, Florida Department of Education Commissioner Pam Stewart sent out a press release about the cyber-attacks and said that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was investigating the testing delays.

The press release said some of the delays were due to the cyber-attack. But it also said that a system update from the software vendor was also to blame.

A spokesperson for Rep. O’Toole, Joshua Blake, said Rep. O’Toole misspoke during the committee.

Because the cyber-attack wasn’t the only reason tests were delayed in some school districts, PolitiFact rated the claim MOSTLY FALSE.

SOURCES: STATE TESTING DELAYS