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Gov. Roy Romer has started promoting statewide tests for Colorado students, and of course, our legislature is fighting the proposal because it would cost money -- $1.7 million this year, and up to $16 million in the near future.
This is surprising, because the legislature usually handles such matters by requiring school districts to run the tests, and leaving it up to the school districts to find the money.
That way, if we voters are pleased by the information from the tests, we'll credit the General Assembly. And if we're annoyed by any tax increase, or loss of other programs, to pay for the tests, we'll blame the local school board. It's a win-win situation for the legislature, and I can't imagine why they're not taking that traditional approach.
Initially, only fourth-graders will take the tests, but over time, they'll also apply to eighth- and 12th-graders, and cover reading, writing, math, science, geography and history.
It would probably be for the best if these tests concerned national standards. If they used Colorado standards, our children could run into trouble competing in the emerging global economy.
Why? Just consider these questions and answers:
GEOGRAPHY
Q. What is the highway distance between Gunnison and Salida, and between Gunnison and Saguache?
A. According to official Colorado Department of Transportation roadside signs, it is 71 miles from Salida to Gunnison, but only 65 miles from Gunnison to Salida. From Saguache to Gunnison is 70 miles, but Gunnison to Saguache is 78 miles.
(As you can see, Colorado students who answered correctly might be at a disadvantage in those parts of the planet where normal geometry applies and distance does not depend on direction.)
Q. If a raindrop falls on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide in Colorado, and the Colorado River and its tributaries drain the entire Western Slope of Colorado, in what river will the raindrop end up?
A. Often, the South Platte or Arkansas, neither of which is tributary to the Colorado.
MATH
Q. If the voters approve a state lottery, with 100 percent of the lottery profits assigned to parks and open space, what percentage of the proceeds will go to parks and open space?
A. Whatever's left after prison construction and, perhaps, subsidies to school districts which refuse to tax themselves to build new facilities.
Q. If a real-estate development in Douglas County relies on mining groundwater, of which there is only a 100-year supply at best, how long will the area be inhabited?
A. For a lot longer than 100 years, since if there are enough rich people in the development, they'll have the clout to protect their water supply by diverting it from some rural jurisdiction which lacks their clout.
Q. When a state's highways are crowded and deteriorating, how does it respond in a cost-effective and efficient manner?
A. By agreeing to the abandonment of a quarter of the state's main-line railroad mileage.
HISTORY
Q. Could George Washington or Thomas Jefferson be elected to public office today?
A. Of course, assuming the Charles Duke version in
Colorado, which holds them in the most favorable
light,
and ignores their ties to the tobacco and
legal-hemp lobbies, not to mention slave-holding.
READING COMPREHENSION
Q. The state has a law whose essence is that all
official records shall be open to public inspection.
What does this really mean?
A. In Boulder County, it means that they're part of a detective's investigative file, and they're not open to public inspection.
Q. Are legislators actually required to understand the laws they pass?
A. No. As Rep. Bob Bacon observed, they don't have time to read all the bills and amendments, let alone understand them.
All this might indicate that the standardized intelligence testing really should take place under the gold dome, but hey, we've got to start somewhere, and fourth-graders aren't rich enough to hire lobbyists.
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