Good Tests Make Good Citizens

January 4, 2010 (GBN News): Schools Chancellor Joel Klein today defended the NY City schools’ emphasis on standardized testing, saying that it prepares students to be better citizens. At a Tweed press conference, the Chancellor pointed out that NY State’s new election ballots, to be rolled out in time for this fall’s state and federal races, will closely resemble standardized tests. Instead of pulling levers on the old mechanical machines, voters will be required to designate their choices by filling in bubbles on their ballots, which will then be scanned by computer. “Maybe they couldn’t handle this in Florida in 2000,” the Chancellor told reporters. “But when NY City kids turn 18 and vote, they’ll have filled in so many bubbles they’ll know exactly what to do.”

In a related story, Mayor Bloomberg is said to be donating $500,000 of his own money to the city election commission to help make the 2012 Mayoral election more convenient for voters. The money will be used to print ballots with bubbles already filled in next to the Mayor’s name. Anticipating objections from critics, a Mayoral spokesperson said that Mr. Bloomberg was only doing this "to give voters a choice.”