The Scarsdale revolt finds an intriguing echo 20 miles to the south, in New York City. There, parents and teachers in 35 alternative public high schools are fighting a new state requirement that seniors pass a battery of high-stakes tests in order to graduate. If it creates anxiety, that's part of how kids learn to survive in the world. That proposition finds few takers in Scarsdale. The affluent Westchester County town has long boasted some of the state's best schools.
Parents argue that the new eighth-grade test steals time and money from classwork.
Teachers, they say, spend dozens of hours preparing for, proctoring and marking the tests. This year it was her daughter's turn, but the program was cut short because the teacher spent days preparing for, giving and scoring the hours-long assessment tests. That's the kind of creativity that is slowly going to be drained out of the classroom. Parents worry that the test will, inevitably, place pressure on schools to conform to a state curriculum. James A. Kadamus, New York's deputy education commissioner, said such fears are overblown.