Standardized Exit Exams: Lincoln-Douglas Format

I thank my new friend for granting this welcome opportunity to measure my mettle and hope he benefits, at least, equally. However, my greatest hope is for the welfare of his children. Currently, my friend adheres to an ideology that threatens children everywhere. Friends, my opponent believes that one should throw out, with the bath water, the baby! I'd like to begin by asking my opponent, in regard to (1), if the education system is biased, from where do we recruit those lonely, objective individuals who are able to untangle themselves from their biases and give their help in developing a just education system and how do we lowly biased brutes recognize objectivity when we see it? My opponent also leaves me confused in his assertion (2) that said testing offers no benefits to passers. Would he please explain the apparent contradiction in his argument that follows? The concern is the establishment of just education, apparently, for the under-served: those who failed. What relevance is there between that and the level of achievement gained by passers? Resolved: A standardized exit exam should be required for all U.S. high school students to graduate. C: The goal of education is to prepare citizens to meet their civil duties. V: Standardized testing is the only reliable method of measuring the effectiveness of educators and the requisite knowledge level for citizens moving into self-governance. 1)My first contention is that humanity has always proved that when the opportunity for self-fulfillment at the cost of acceptable consequences presents itself, many will exploit the opportunity without regard to the impact on others. This is common knowledge without citing the Holocaust, Jim Crow or slavery. Because educators are members of humanity, we must be cautious of their tendency to fulfill themselves at the expense of students ( YouTube.com/watch?v=gj--P1sYarY ). A form of fullfillment may be teaching lessons that are inconsistent with the objective of public education. By requiring students to pass exit exams, we pressure teachers to use their limited resources ( theapple.monster.com/benefits/articles/7665-9-reasons-to-quit-teaching-and-10-reasons-to-stay ) to teach what the electorate decides is most relevant to becoming a good citizen. I do know... this coarse implication grates on the refined ears of our enlightened countrymen. I do know... those practitioners of gentile academic pursuits such as rooting out theoretical injustice in every gopher hole in every golf course find the task of being the boss repulsive. And, I do know... that applying a purely academic standard to real life has a purely real life consequence that the academic has no need to worry about. This leads me to my next contention. It is the duty of the citizenry to insure that the government is carrying out its duties. In The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson tells us that when a government drifts toward despotism, the citizens are burdened with,'a duty to throw it off.' Does this not suggest that we also have the duty to prevent despotism? And, if so, are we not responsible to the sovereigns of tomorrow, the children, to prevent them from becoming despots? "We hold these truths to be self evident." " Fourscore and seven years ago." "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Are we not failing posterity if we accept that these sacred moments in our history can be interpreted as anything else but an assertion that our country's founding is rooted in natural law, that blood is one of the currencies in which freedom is purchased, and that justice can prevail against tyranny and we're the descendants of those who proved such? Only a standardized test is practical enough to insure we meet this obviously necessary responsibility. Some will say,'Studies this, studies that, studies, studies, studies!' I say to you,"Study well and you'll accomplish more than that study... which is biased." Lastly, to my good friends who require sources for the above, I ask that you consider such a need support for my argument.