With charter schools in New York under increasing attack by the status quo, this Center comes at an especially good time. New York will have 13 schools by the fall. In the Evergreen State, the battle for charters continues and accelerated last when the president of the Washington Education Association surprised charter onlookers with her public push for the charter school bill currently awaiting final action in the legislature. Public charter schools may be one way to provide those new opportunities. In Atlanta, President Clinton pointed out the need for standards and testing.
Exams are essential for propelling all schools toward greater achievement for all students.
Clinton, however, noted that students are burdened with too many tests and that there is a potential downside to testing if it reduces lessons to cramming to boost scores. But he also said that testing students' progress must not be abandoned. Exams let us know what material students have covered and what work remains. The AFT's recommendations for prospective teachers, released last week, include a national test, a longer college-degree program that includes a fifth year in the classroom as an internship, a requirement to maintain at least a B average, and an academic major in the subject that the teacher will specialize in. Teacher candidates would also be required to demonstrate college-level knowledge in math, science, English, history, and geography by the end of their sophomore year in college.