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OK, so I was reading the L.A. Times this morning and there is a flap about how students have to pass a state exam to get their degree. The Times reported that 100,000 students would not pass the test, so what happens if they complete their coursework and don’t pass the test? Do they get to go to graduation ceremonies? Some school boards were saying that the rite of graduation is expected along with celebration of ending high school, and they couldn’t take that away from the kids. I mean, let the party begin. (You don’t think partying had anything to do with them not passing the test?)
The Times says this is twenty percent of the senior population- doing some quick math in my head, this means 500,000 people are trying to graduate. And it would appear 400,000 will.
I went to the website and got some of the student’s practice questions. I think I could pass, and that is an achievement because as you get older you get stupider- just ask any high school senior.
Twenty percent of high school seniors cannot pass this exam, but that is not what I would be worried about. What are they going to do after they get out of school?
Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams, a guest on our radio show, stated with some confidence that the average person leaving high school will never read another book. Maybe you don’t have to have a high school degree if you are never going to read a book again in your whole life. But what kind of life are you going to have? What kind of life can you expect? And just why is this the state’s problem anyway? Isn’t this a problem of individual responsibility to do something with your life, and part of that might be to get as much education as possible.
This couldn’t possibly have something to do with parenting also. If my son doesn’t pass his high school test, there is going to be some heat. Not to worry- it won’t be me, it will be my wife that lowers the boom. At five-years-old, he is already expected to finish college with at least a BA, maybe more. Oh, my aching wallet.
And this is with an educational budget in California of fifty three billion dollars. Yep, that is 53 billion dollars. Think you got your money’s worth?
Maybe we should just close the whole educational thing down. That way no one gets hurt in life, everybody graduates and has a party. The US of A: the land of no fault, no hurt, no worries. Pass the bong.
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