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I heard they can take it 5 times and they only have to make a 40 on it to pass. Here in Texas our kids have to pass the TASS test to graduate. They get several chances to take it. It is an 8th grade level test. I don't know how many kids pass or fail it, but my kids all thought it was easy. They passed it in 10th grade. No one is whining here about having to pass the TASS test. We do complain about all the time spent teaching to that test, instead of actually teaching new material. They waste a lot of time doing that, when they could be teaching math, science, history, English, etc.

So, per the article about half of the students in question are black and hispanic. For lack of any factual data, let's say that breaks down to 25% are black, 25% are hispanic, but a whopping 50% are white whinies who can't make a 40. How's that being racially bias against blacks and hispanics? Then it goes on to somehow relate this to the sugar and citrus industry? What, those kids can't even get a job picking oranges without a passing grade of 40 on the test??? That article just makes no sense.

In Texas it's called the TAKS now. It's given to almost every grade from 3-11 to pass to the next grade. Pass the test, pass to the next grade. Fail the test even if you're an A student, fail the year. The 12th grade TAKS is for the diploma. They only teach to the test and nothing else. Say it with me, "Funding". All year, it's practice for the TAKS, practice for the TAKS, and more practice for the TAKS. The actual tests (3rd - 11th) are taken 6 weeks before the end of school so guess what's done the last 6 wks of school ------ nothing. Absolutely N-O-T-H-I-N-G!!! Why bother showing up for class? The teachers and kids all know nothing they do will "count" toward anything (cough, education, cough, knowlege, cough, why Johnny can't read) so they goof off and watch videos like the oh so very educational "Dude, Where's My Car". And school taxes keep going up...

I suppose Texans could be proud of somewhat higher standards than Florida (i.e., higher than 40% needed to pass), but I can't share their optimism. The TASS test has been replaced by the supposedly more demanding TAKS test. Third graders who took the TAKS reading test this spring had to get 20 correct out of 36, a "lofty" 56% . The media hyped the "tough new test" that could force some kids to repeat third grade, interviewing nervous students/parents and featuring school rallies encouraging the kids to do their best. Of course, the schools had been "teaching to the test" all year. Also, state education officials acknowledged tweaking (dumbing down) the minimum passing scores for fear that too many children would have failed the test otherwise. They piously assert that the "bar will be raised" in the future. This is true- by 2005, children will need a stratospheric 67% (24 of 36) to pass. The most disgusting thing, however, was the local El Paso paper's coverage of the results. They reported the 90% pass rate with much fanfare, using lines like "kids beat TAKS"and "better than expected results" while letting disingenuous educators spout self congratulatory pablum about their district's performances- as if scoring a 56% were some kind of achievement. I might add that three retests are allowed, and that a kid can still be socially promoted by a panel of educators/parents even if he fails every retest. That's neither "improved accountability" nor "higher standards". It's the same old fraud being foisted on parents, in a slightly different manner. They develop a more demanding test but downwardly adjust the scores so the illusion of a good education is preserved. Kinda like my property taxes this year- the entities courageously "held the line" on tax rates as they jacked up my home's appraised value by $10K. Nothing but a game. Color me cynical about the future of the public schools.