http://www.mesquitenews.com/ The latest news from the www.mesquitenews.com website! Newsys Template Engine Opinion/star Guests http://backend.userland.com/rss 60 newsys-585253671 http://www.mesquitenews.com/articles/2013/05/21/opinion/star_guests/99.txt Jannine Neely, Special to Star Local News Dear Common Sense, Oh, how I have missed you! Your lengthy absence was painfully apparent recently as I listened to another senate education hearing. Why, you may wonder? Well, because education comes from thinking, while you “just know.” Texas legislators went amiss, discussing a decrease in high-stakes assessments as opposed to eliminating them. Therefore, this spring, students, teachers and schools will be held accountable for their results on the newest high-stakes test, STAAR. As you know, a system which presumes one test can be the sole indicator of knowledge for all people just doesn’t make sense. That is simple wisdom. Surely you’d reappear after a decade of TAKS, when Texas SAT scores gradually declined well below the national average. But alas, Austin’s education propaganda era continues, along with curriculums chock full of desperate test preparation measures. Again, we allowed our politician’s over- inflated egos and corporate loyalties to make the decisions. So they purchased STAAR, forced compliance with detrimental consequences, and empowered it as the final decision-maker over every student’s future, despite the work they did for 13 years prior. Oh, Common Sense, has an over-confidence in our thoughts deemed you unnecessary, thereby banishing you from our decision-making process? Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:57:22 -0500