I’m a big fan of finding out what other people have learned the hard way and one way I learn is to read what wise people have said in just enough words to fit on as match cover; stuff like “Be careful what you want because you’re going to get it,” and , “If you’re going to run out front be prepared to get tripped from behind.”

So imagine the wave of nausea I had to swallow when, during my morning reading, I learned about Lyons Elementary School in Houston, Texas. The tale, told in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, predicted the future of education in Georgia, Tennessee, and some other states that are embracing what’s called “value added” education.

In Texas they already have it and writer Jaime Sarrio painted a brilliant picture in her story of Andres’ Balp’s fourth-grade classroom. In doing so, it was a story of our future. Here is part of what Jamie wrote:

“In his fourth-grade room at Houston’s Lyons Elementary, the focus is clear: measuring exactly how well students are progressing. Children are grouped by how they have done on standardized tests, making it easier for Balp to work with the lower-performing kids,” the story read.

“A poster charts daily test scores — black ink for high marks, red for low — to show who’s on track to hit state exam goals. Students follow their own progress too: Taped to each desk is a small square of colored paper with the student’s goal score for a daily 12-question assessment,” it went on.

“Balp, a 17-year classroom veteran, holds the master key to all this data: a three-ring binder filled with graphs showing test scores for every student — and forecasts of how they’re expected to do going forward. It informs the interactions he has with his students.

"His income hinges on this data. So does his job.”

* * *

Is that what we want, the pressure on a 10-year-old kid having to see if he or she is the black-or-red every day? A harried teacher who must look at the big chart daily to see if he’ll keep his job based solely on a one-day test? My gracious Almighty!

Believe it or not, it is already like that. Teachers all across Tennessee are demanded to teach “the test,” not the student, and I have yet to talk to one teacher or one educator in my countless casual conversations who does want to literally throw up over the horrors that standardized testing have caused in American education.

Now, let me tell you what is just as troubling. The teachers suddenly have no clout, no political swagger at all, because they very stupidly have backed the Democrat (liberal) party so long they are now helpless to a slashing band of Republicans eager to play ratta-tat tat with everything from tenure (which has admittedly gotten ridiculous) to pay (which is still woefully low).

For example, the National Education Association (teacher’s union) has given the Democrats $27,679,300 over the last 20 years while giving the Republicans $2,005,200. The figures, easily accessed on the Internet, aren’t as bad as the American Federation of State, Country and Municipal Employees ($40.3 million for the Democrats compared to a mere $547,700 for the Republicans).

But you have to admit the on-going Wisconsin massacre is the beginning of – what shall we say – a “startling trend"and the poorly-advised teachers are not only going to get put out of the union business, what’s far worse is they have little credence in advising us of what is undoubtedly an impending educational train wreck.

Tell me, Mr. Psychoanalyst, how does a 10-year-old function with a big, read-and-black chart that he and every one of his classmates see on the wall throughout each day? And tell me, learned sir, the teacher’s reaction when said 10-year-old, after hearing his folks fight all night and coming to school with no breakfast, is expected to endure the taunts of his classmates when he flubs again and gets more red ink on the big chart?

If anyone thinks that’s quality education then they ought to leave with the same swamis that grossly overloaded the union donations for the past 20 years. Standardized testing – forget "No Child Left Behind” – will never work because even the corner dunce knows children are not alike.

“Value added” education – a teacher’s job – is equally a sham. Simple “erasures,” altered tests, are now being found in one city after another. And it is the very kid we are trying to teach who becomes the hapless victim.

I’m all for educational reform. In Tennessee, with the lowest scores in the nation, we have little choice but, my goodness, to post a chart falls under “cruel and unusual” punishment for everyone.

Sounds to me like we need a leader, someone who is willing to demand teachers “teach” and children “learn.” Mark it down – in our effort to run ahead we are gonna’ get tripped from behind.

Contact: [email protected]