These are people you can admire.
October 31, 2008 - Despite pressure from educators and the media and their wrenching stories about English language learner students who might not get their diplomas, Maryland School Board member Kate Walsh said she would will not seek delays for those learning English, she said, because she believes they should become competent in the language before they receive a diploma.
The reporter, however, looks at it differently.
How educators view the plight of students is a highly emotional issue for some, such as Dunbar Brooks, a black state school board member, and Andres Alonso, a Latino who is Baltimore's school chief executive officer. The tests, they and others argue, have raised the standards for the most vulnerable students, giving them access to a more rigorous curriculum.As opposed to,
They frame the argument as a civil rights issue, and say they witnessed those groups being held back by a poor education. Students who fail this June, they say, can remain in high school until they do pass.
On the other side are parents and teachers who view the test requirement as blatantly unfair after witnessing the heartbreaking struggles of their own children or students.Read the whole thing.
-----------------------
TT - It isn't parents who think the tests are unfair. It is the teachers unions who vigorously oppose standardized testing. There's a reason. Standardized tests let administrators know which teachers are not teaching the curriculum effectively. Or at all. A tool that unions and underperforming teachers would like to see eliminated.
