Collecting data and graphing the information gets rid of the secrecy and confusion surrounding state finances. We can all follow the money which then makes it possible for us to cheer on or change what our state government is doing.
I looked at the website today http://www.cacs.org/ca/site/about
and watched a short video introduction.
I had been talking with friend about how we can find out the cost of the annual No Child Left Behind test to our state. The information was hidden. I asked California Common Sense for help. I filled out the "Contact Us" form on the website.
Subject: How can I find out the cost of the STAR test on CA?
I explained that I am working to have the No Child Left Behind annual test administered every other year instead of every year. I wrote that I believed less testing, such as every other year, would improve schools, help make students' smarter and plug up a money and resource drain.
I know the test is mandated by federal law, however, it would be significant to find out how much the test costs each state every year. Some school administrators tell me they spend a month organizing the testing for their school site. Teachers spend a week of their time being test proctors. Students take the tests and sometimes even in subjects like biology that they haven't yet taken in high school. Students see that state money is poured into the test and not into them and their learning. I've never written or spoken the word "Kafkaesque" before, but I thought of it while I was writing this.
A wise friend, who is outside the education field, says that testing should be a celebration of all that you know and learned that year instead of a punishment. Is he being naive?
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