Recently, letters have appeared in The Reflector condemning the practice of testing in public schools. It used to be that passing a test was a badge of pride and something to be proud of and once in a while if you really done well, the good feeling would last a long time and other kids knew you did something special.
Today in America, public education is almost an oxymoron – it means the opposite of itself. America’s K-12 grads test at or near the bottom of barrel with an inadequate and minimum part-time school day and school year with constant pressures by teacher unions to shave even that woefully-short-instruction time.
Other modern countries take education seriously and leave America far behind. But, now comes an effort to do away with testing and that only adds more nails to the coffin of public education.
One letter tried to compare taking a test as toxic as taking a poison pill. There is a good chance that teachers are writing in hoping parents will pull their kids out of testing. What better deal could you have to be paid a fat cushy salary and wonderful benefits and yet never be judged for the job you did in the classroom.
Your class of students may not know anything but they leave with a blank smile on their faces thinking they have passed and it’s nice to be nice without being measured. Yet they are tested and measured every day in a job or in a family competing with their peers to be a success and make a living.
Do away with testing at your own peril. It will make America an inferior country.
Frank Krbec
Battle Ground
