We want to make sure kids are prepared to meet those higher standards. Nobody wants to see mass failure. That would be greatly demoralizing for everyone. State officials notes that the details of a delay have not been worked out, but the paper reports that probably scores on the new tests would not count until the spring of 1999, and the first students required to pass the 11th-grade exams would be in the class of 2002. Several state board members also are trying to add language to the standards plan that would give local schools the discretion to hire reading teachers in place of guidance counselors, writes the paper.
Current law requires that elementary schools have guidance counselors.
That's very dangerous ground. The Northern Virginia Counselors Association is bracing for the attack. According to the POST, they are encouraging each schools' guidance counselors to collect at least 10 pro- counseling letters to send to the state board. We call parents on every single thing. I'm just not sure how students would get along without us.