Those Who Can't, Sue
SAUNDERS, DEBRA J.
Those Who Can't, Sue by Debra J. Saunders Today's lesson, brought to you by the California Teachers Association: When you flunk a test, sue. Thirteen years ago, California implemented the...
...These are needed role models...
...How many people voted...
...But she flunked CBEST four times-earning the equivalent of 0 in math twice...
...The educrats contend that the test is-what else?- racist...
...The suit cites Boyd's many awards and accolades as proof that she is a solid educator as well as "an extra-sensitive conduit and role model for the school's large minority student population...
...Educators who believe that the key to success is lowering standards...
...Not mentioned in the suit is the fact that, when those who take the test two or more times are included, 63 percent of blacks, 86 percent of Latinos, 84 percent of Asians, and 96 percent of whites pass...
...They found typos in two others...
...What these minority-educator groups ought to be outraged about is the fact that so many blacks, Latinos, and Asians managed to graduate from high school, complete four years of college and a fifth year of teacher training, and still fail to read, write, and compute as well as a 10th-grader...
...I'm drawing a blank here...
...Linda James, a principal who is president of the Oakland Alliance of Black Educators, seems to agree-if unintentionally-with that contention...
...The writing section requires applicants to write two brief essays...
...So, in fact, 10 percent of the faculty is African American...
...Only 35 percent of African Americans, 51 percent of Latinos, and 59 percent of Asians- but 80 percent of white test-takers- passed the test the first time...
...To the contrary, the role models are the majority of teachers who take the test and pass, if not the first time, then later...
...Talk about living down to your stereotype as whiners...
...It should be noted that while the teachers union et al...
...The suit argues that even an award-winning teacher of a subject covered on the test can fail it-a sign of the test's weakness, the suit claims, not of any shortcoming in the system...
...Another question asks, "Of the following fractions, which is closest in value to 0.35-3/5, 1/2, 1/5, 1/4 or 1/3...
...Teachers who sue on the ground that minorities can't be expected to perform as well as whites...
...A sample math question: Sari ran for club president and received 70 percent of the vote...
...That's what they should try to change...
...This year hearings are being held in a three-year effort to gut the test...
...Boyd also must suffer from reading anxiety, because she flunked the reading section all four times as well...
...Teachers who demonstrate that if you fail, the remedy is to cry racism...
...Then she realized that 8 teachers were black...
...Plaintiffs' attorney John Affeldt has maintained that Boyd is competent and that for years she ably computed grade point averages as a guidance counselor...
...Indeed, six of the original 11 individual plaintiffs named in the suit have passed CBEST since l992...
...This suit doesn't do much for minority teachers' rep-or, considering the CTA's position that 10th-grade mastery isn't needed to teach well, the reputation of California teachers generally...
...She had mentioned that 6 out of 80 teachers at her school were black-1 or 2 percent by her estimation...
...The question was rephrased and Boyd answered "That's about 1 percent...
...Some other plaintiffs took and failed the test six or more times...
...This is not a difficult test...
...What percent of 80 is 8?" Ashe asked Boyd...
...For 40 seconds-I timed it- Boyd was silent...
...Ashe argues that many Latinos and Asians have flunked the reading portion because, while they claim to be bilingual or multilingual, they have not mastered English...
...The reading section features multiple-choice questions to assess comprehension of a few short essays...
...Ashe responded...
...His opponent garnered 21 votes...
...The real outrage, the real racism, is in a system that graduates kids who can't read, write, or add...
...Nonetheless, the suit argues that the information in the test-especially the math portion-may be irrelevant to a classroom teacher, a school counselor (who must figure grade point averages), or an administrator (whose job involves budgeting...
...Meanwhile, note the obnoxious claim that CBEST deprives minority students of minority teachers who would make splendid role models...
...The suit's star plaintiff is Sara Boyd, an African-American former teacher and guidance counselor now retired from her job as vice principal of Menlo-Atherton High School...
...In 1993, the California Teachers Association (CTA)-arguably the state's largest lobbying entity, affiliated with the National Education Association-filed an amicus brief in support of the suit...
...He dismissed Boyd's wrong answer as deposition nervousness...
...She did need to pass CBEST, however, to become an administrator...
...In the suit she cried racism-yet the state granted her waivers that allowed her, despite her having flunked the test four times, to be a vice principal from 1989 until her retirement in 1995...
...The answer is multiple choice...
...As proof, the suit offers pass ratios by ethnic grouping...
...No," Boyd countered...
...Since then, the state has responded to pressure from teacher groups by making the math section even easier, eliminating questions involving elementary geometry and algebra...
...James explained that some bilingual teachers flunk the reading test because, she told the San Francisco Chronicle, "When you are a person who has difficulty with the English language, it's going to take you a little longer to figure it out...
...Then: "Can you rephrase that...
...Boyd already was a teacher when CBEST was implemented, so she didn't need to pass it to teach...
...Patricia Wheeler, who helped write the test, testified in court that she gave 80 sample math questions to her 8-year-old son...
...Debra J. Saunders writes a nationally syndicated column for the San Francisco Chronicle...
...Instead they propose to increase minority student achievement by sticking minority students with incompetent teachers...
...In 1992, the Oakland Alliance of Black Educators, the Association of Mexican-American Educators, and the California Association for Asian-Pacific Bilingual Education filed a class-action suit against the test...
...A lot of math anxiety," Affeldt explained...
...That's how little they care about black, Hispanic, and Asian kids...
...He got only two wrong...
...fault CBEST for keeping good teachers out of the classroom, many educators, including named plaintiffs, received state waivers that allowed them to become first-time public-school teachers or be promoted into administration...
...Even attorney Lawrence Ashe, who is defending the test, was surprised by an exchange in a videotaped deposition with Boyd...
...Thirteen years ago, California implemented the California Basic Education Skills Test, or CBEST, with the modest goal of insuring that new teachers have attained at least a 10th-grade level in reading, writing, and math...
Vol. 1 • March 1996 • No. 24
