Unsolicited Opinon From One Who Has Been There

According to our paper, legislatures in the State of Florida are looking to help out military kids by exempting them from things such as the FCAT for graduation if  transferring in as a senior and giving them first cut at getting into magnet and charter schools.  The FCAT is our State Standardized Test. The link to the article is HERE, but I don’t know how long it will stay up as our paper archives stuff.

Now first, as the child of a Navy pilot, I have to be appreciative of all the thought that went into this. I am not disagreeing with any of it actually.  I’m impressed with all of it. the thought, the perspective.  Finding a good school for your kids is unnerving and having first choice at a magnet or charter school is an excellent suggestion.  I do have a couple things I would like to add with regard to exemption from the state test, FCAT, for graduation completion (they can use their SAT or ACT scores instead.). Although it is a nicety, it really is no big deal.

First, military children are of the most resilient.  A little test like the FCAT is probably not going to scare or stress them.  Having an emergency in the house that only Mom can handle when both parents should be around is scary.  Mom or Dad getting shipped away is scary.  The black sedan showing up on your neighbor’s doorstep is scary. A test… not so much.  Never was to me anyway. Let’s just keep the perspective, shall we? 

Second, I never went to a school that DIDN’T have testing. Whether it was the Stanford Achievement or Iowa Testing or FCAT… they are all testing. All public schools do it. Period.  Changing the name of the test is not scary. Changing schools is scary. Changing friends is scary.  Changing homes is scary.  Let’s keep it all in perspective, shall we?

Third, most of the kids I knew that were from military families were pretty sharp kids.  We weren’t the slackers. We grew up in strict households and we had chores and did our homework.  Many of us were voracious readers since reading is a great escape from:  being forced to make friends, changing schools, having a new residence.  Some of us became excellent readers because we were living in a foreign country and you don’t watch TV if you don’t know the language.  (Although I have some excellent stories of a Chinese cartoon where the female robot shot her tits off as rockets.  To this day, I have no idea what that cartoon was about, but we never missed it!)    So I would say, in a sweeping generalization, that if you are really concerned about test scores, and they are here in Florida, the higher the average test score per school the better, than perhaps in ‘helping the military kids and making them exempt from the test if they transfer their Senior year’ you may also be concerned that these children are going to HURT your test scores and graduating senior scores and I think, my friends, you have missed your mark, if this is how you feel.  Pulling these kids out of your scores… you may be doing yourself a serious disservice. 

However, I do see where they are coming from and it is goodness. It really is.