STUDENT STATUS
Far too much loose talk and mis-information is being bandied about these days concerning the much criticized SOL tests which were designed to see where children really should be when they arrive at a specific grade level.
In general most people seem to feel the tests have been a lamentable burden for young people and they tend to work have them dropped. As a general rule both make a rather dismal showing at all levels. They have brought to light many things many parents would rather not know about the educational system. Summer School attendance has trippled in most areas but it is voluntary and not compulsory, so few take it seriously. Parents feel frustrated when they find that their "A" student can't read, for instance. They are chagrined when their child needs to attend "summer school" which, to most, has always been a degrading term. School official have been calling it by other names as much as possible alluding to "Intensive Study", "Reassessment Sessions", and avoiding use of the term "remedial" at all costs. That has been saved to use as a threat against anyone who refuses to attend summer classes setting forth the idea that, when the regular school session starts in the Fall, they will be "required" to take special "remedical " or "make-up"classes.
I have been amazed at the fact that the teacher's unions allowed the exams to be. Much of the difficulties the students are experiencing are being attributed, as some might have foreseen, to inadequate teaching by poorly qualified people. The NEA is usually more alert to such threats.
The Federal government rushed in with a "solution" to meet all such educational lapses. President Clinton elected to set aside $1.3 billion to hire 30,000 new teachers! Just where he found 30,000 qualified teachers and suitable classrooms in which to place them, has not, as yet, been determined ,or, it seems, even considered. It is largely election time talk and is not intended to be fullfilled.
A.L.M. September 4, 2003 [c366wds]
