Regarding "Texas urged to cut back on testing" (Tuesday Front Page), various former Education commissioners and other members of the Education Establishment have declared that Texas has “gone too far with testing.” Really? The requirement right now is for a measly 15 tests required of Texas students through four years of high school; that's less than four tests per year, a schedule not near as rigorous as high-performing countries like South Korea and Finland. Ironically, these "Educators" are pressuring Gov Perry to reduce the number of tests to nearer the four that were in place before the reforms. In other words, let's go back to the practices that failed.
Legislators across the country seized control of the agenda from the Education professionals precisely because they had abandoned fundamentals and embraced a no-accountability testing schedule. Why should anybody follow their advice now? And isn't it ironic that these folks would have us abandon Education reform just when it was starting to bear fruit? An article on Feb. 22nd in the Chronicle told of Texas 8th-graders "leading the pack in mathematics and science testing gains - eclipsing the national average and outperforming other 'mega states' like California and Florida". That means that at precisely the point our school children are best equipped to handle the more rigorous testing schedule and leave with a quality education, we would yank the rug from under their feet.
For at least the past generation, our education system has pursued policies that benefited teachers, bureaucrats and administrators. There was no solution that didn't call for massive increases in funding, and the more money we spent, the more student performance fell. It looks like the Education Establishment types wish return to the bad old days. Shame on them.
Pete Smith
Cypress
