The Education
Problem in California
Teacher Testing:
The State tested 3,140 teachers at National University (Year 2003-2004) – and
3,140 passed! Now, it is possible that there were no bad hair days that day – no
spouses had recently filed for divorce, no children had run away or been killed,
no…
The odds of 100% of 3,140 students passing anything more difficult than fogging
a mirror, tests my credulity…and probably yours as well…
San Diego State students, on that same exam for the same year, also passed at a
100% rate: 510 of 510!
San Francisco State University reported a statistical 100% but only 634 of 635
passed! (Slacker!)
UC Berkeley passed 100% also: 631 out of 631.
San Jose State – 540 out of 540.
UCLA – 175 for 175.
Pepperdine, 310 for 310.
Stanford, 57 for 57. (O.K., that is possible…)
Santa Clara, 43 for 43.
The aggregate score for the entire state is astonishing: 20, 741 tested, 20,723
passed. That is still a statistical 100% with appropriate rounding – and is
reported on the official website as 100%. Of course, it is possible that
California teachers are simply brilliant when compared to 1998 Massachusetts
teachers…
But here is the problem…in The Nation’s Report Card, Massachusetts stands right
at the top of student testing, and California right at the bottom.
How is it possible that Massachusetts has such poor teachers that they
personally fail a basic literacy exam, but their students score at the top of
the scale – while California teachers score beautifully in a basic literacy
exam, and their students score right at the bottom?
There is something very wrong here.
