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Standard
By Kimberly Marciniakwww.geocities.com/stophsa/Standard.html <br> <br>
I was called out of class for the second time in my public school career to talk about a standardized test…<br>
I had informed my counselor weeks ago that I was refusing to be a participant in the TAKS experiment. This action would not have been so bad if I had not involved theSan Antonio Express-News,a move which apparently now spells “trouble” for my Texas state “recognized” school.
My principal basically explained the consequences of my actions and how now I will never be able to get into college and would be working at the McFlurry machine at McDonalds for the rest of my life. She went on to discuss how my actions might be a “disruption to the learning environment” and how she and my district would have to deal with me appropriately.
My parents and I had not been planning this like a Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. We had informed my counselor weeks ago that I refused to take this test. But now it seemed like a much bigger issue since the press had become involved and appeared to be taking our side. She tried to use intimidation, scare tactics, and played upon my worst fears hoping to change my position on this issue.
My parents had always taught me “follow your conscience no matter what” and I could not in good conscience support a test or a corrupt system that was about to proclaim forty-two thousand children as “failures.” I wonder -- what right does the state of Texas have to tell a child that he or she is a failure? I believe that no child should ever be considered a failure by anyone.
I went on to talk about the biase TAKS seemed to hold against those of poor economic background and minorities. She asked me the question, “why do you care?” That was a question that was not new to me -- being a teenager from a white, educated, upper-middle class family, who attended the best school district in San Antonio. Why should I care? I answered, “I think it says a lot when people tell you that you should not care just because an injustice does not personally affect you.”<br>
It is true that my opinions and those of my family would not have made the front page of the newspaper if I had been coming from a disadvantaged background, and had uneducated parents who made minimum wage. But being a child of privilege and coming from Middle America as well as being a good student in challenging pre-advanced placement courses, attending a magnet program for students gifted in the arts, and a member of the school’s pep squad -- my opinions and actions seem to matter. <br>
There was no doubt in any of my teacher’s or even my principal’s minds that I could ace the test. My principal even said I would “ ace it to the max.” I had no doubt myself that I could “ace the test to the max” if I wanted to. But this year I refused to. I refused to participate in anything I believe is corrupt or unfair.
I believe that my actions will have consequences for me and my speaking out to the public could cause me to either be expelled from the magnet program I love so much or be expelled from my high school in general. But I will face whatever lies ahead and will let my conscience be my guide.
My parents and I have received unbounded support from our community and the nation. I received dozens of e-mails comparing me to everything from a teenage Rosa Parks to a young Albert Einstein. My peers often describe me as a modern day Moses liberating the Texas Public Education System. My friends and family have been incredibly supportive and recently a friend said, “Kim, I would never have even thought or had the courage to do what you are doing.” A teacher made a comment to me one day saying “I am not allowed to encourage you -- but go Kim go!”<br>
I am not the first child to boycott a state standardized and I doubt that I will be the last. Boycotts have been happening all across the country. But I am the first child in Texas to publically announce my refusal to take the TAKS. <br>
I encourage parents in Texas and across the nation, that know what these tests are about and what they are used for, to not send their children to school on testing days. <br>
Why does our nation test? I wonder about the sacrifice of the children who fail the test -- what will it all be for? To continue to show us that the “haves” have and the “have-nots” don’t have? My state continues to support the problem through rewarding schools that do well on a test with money and by punishing those who do poorly by giving them barely enough money to keep their school doors open. I watch as my district wastes their money on shrubbery to beautify my school’s campus while other schools need that money for new computers.As a nation we have wasted billons of dollars on tests -- producing them and distributing them when the majority of them are inaccurate, unfair, and often meaningless. I often dreamed of my graduation day -- expecting to walk across that stage and receive a diploma as my mom cried and my dad took six rolls of film of me in my cap and gown. But that day may never come for me. I cannot support this testing craze any longer with a good conscience. I may be branded as a “failure” or as a “dropout” by the state of Texas -- but as person I believe I am a winner. Do I really need a diploma to tell me that? I am definitely going onto college -- but it just might be minus one Texas state diploma.
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