Re: [arn-l Digest] Vol. 1 No. 481 Messages: 7

[Cathy Marciniak <cathmarc@sbcglobal.net>]

> People send their kids to
>> learn and want evidence that they are in fact learning.  Tests, including
> the
>> "standardized tests" that have arisen with NCLB, are an important source of
>> evidence that kids are learning.


You're right.  I do want evidence.  But that doesn't mean by any stretch
that HSST is an important source of that evidence.  Personally, if I want to
know whether, and what, my children are learning, I talk to their teachers
and visit their schools and read their homework.  I do that throughout the
school year.  I don't wait for a single number on a single piece of paper to
be mailed to me at the end of the school year.

This argument that HSST is some kind of "quality control" (which always
reminds me of the question, "are they afraid if they don't control it it
will get out of hand?") is condescending.   The federal government allows
consumers, indeed encourages consumers,  of virtually every service to make
up their own minds about whether they are getting their money's worth.  I
rather appreciate that.  If I'm dissatisfied with the food, I'll send it
back.  If my attorney skips a filing date, I'll sue him.  If my mechanic
zarks up my engine, I'll cancel my check and take the car elsewhere next
time.  If my doctor forgets that I'm deathly allergic to tetracycline, I'll
remind him.  If my school district is wasting money on HSST or football
stadiums or devoting resources to test prep that would be better spent on
education, I'll let them know.  Trust me, I **am** letting them know.
  
Let's accept for just a moment the use of corporate language in a discussion
of government-provided services.  Why  is education the only area in which
the government feels suddenly so devoted to assuring consumer satisfaction
and quality of outputs?  Are we to begin quantifying and tracking, say, the
performance of the Department of Motor Vehicles, or the Postal Service?  The
military?  The quality and timeliness of, perhaps, "Reliable Intelligence"?
Where do I go to return the unused portion and get my money back?

Never mind.  If you're going to play with "quality assurance", then you
simply  cannot have the patronizing attitude that an educational policy
"assures quality to consumers" and simultaneously argue that it must be
undertaken OVER the wishes of those very same consumers.  You either respect
the sovereignty of the consumer-taxpayer's decisions or you do not.  You
cannot have it both ways.
  
We can argue about the social benefits of deregulation of industry and tort
reform if you like, but please don't defend yet another politician who
doesn't give a flying rat's ass about my children vowing to "help" them by
forcing on them yet another HSST by telling me he's doing it for my benefit.
If this official yo-yo or that one really wants to make sure my tax dollars
are being effectively spent, sign me up; he can start by paying attention to
the folks consuming the service in question -- who also pay his salary.

Cathy
cathmarc@sbcglobal.net