I hear that teachers in other parts of the world are so up-in-arms about Standardized Testing of students that they are considering boycotting this practice.  For the past two decades, Standardized Testing became the Golden Calf in the American Educational Establishment…as if weighing a pig over and over can make the pig fatter.  (I dare not offend the Pig Nation by saying “beefing up” the pig.)  It was and still is a false god.  It is like the worship of Baal (for our Old Testament scholars out there).  Our educational community needs an Elijah (or was that his mentoree-prophet Elisha?) to kick Baal’s proverbial ass as well as his false prophets’ (wiesel administrators’) proverbial asses!  Standardized Testing doesn’t work, folks.  The kids are dropping out of schools in droves because they are bored and totally disengaged.  When the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) became obsessed with raising standardized test scores (I presume so that Superintendent Beverly Hall could get one of her many bonuses),  the school board did away with awesome vocational programs like the automobile body shop program headed up by retired MACE member Mr. James Whitehead at the old Archer High School.  His students were gung-ho for the program.  They excelled in the program.  They won state competitions.  And, when they graduated from Archer, they had the skills to get real jobs at the various car dealerships like Beaudry Ford.  Now, where are their little brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces?  Probably dropping out of school and running the streets.  But, Beverly Hall received her bonuses and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce was happy that it could brag that APS had “improved.”  

    Standardized Testing? Huh. Standardized Cheating/Fooling? Ole Rod Paige was good at that in Houston and then President Bush appointed him to head up education in America. Does this not tell us the current status of mass, public education? No edge to it at all. The administrators have to round the edges and make everything smooth so that, with some Outright Cheating (OC) and Modified Cheating (MC), the public can be fooled into thinking that “progress” has taken place. (Some of these “students” need to be in vocational training like they were for decades in American Schools, but no, our policy-nuts think that all students should be academic scholars. It’s just not going to happen. So, what does the American Educational Establishment do? Just a little winky-winky when it comes to “helping” the students on exams. Pitiful.) When the public thinks that “progress” is taking place, then the likes of Beverly Hall, Alvin Wilbanks, and Crawford Lewis can keep their high-paying jobs and even get higher salaries and more perks! It’s all a game. And, when a school board finally gets tired of a superintendent, then the supe gets re-cycled to a new superintendency in a new location — like what is apparently happening with the California “reject” whom the Clayton County School Board just hired, Edmond Heatley. School boards tend to be stupid (a harsh word, but it really is true) and superintendents are very manipulative and power-hungry. Enough for now.  May 18, 2009.  (c) MACE, 2009.