Our federal government, in its quest for higher education, is dictating the teaching environment in a way that we as tax-paying citizens should question. Many state mandated tests focus on the four core subjects of reading, writing, math and social studies, with little or no emphasis on other skills. This, of course, depends on grade levels, the state, and the political mandate. All state-mandated tests are not created equal.

A certain percentage of students must pass these government tests. If overall scores are low, the school receives its mark, and is then given a certain amount of time to reach a respectable level within the state scoring system. If the students fail to meet the expectations of the state, the state then has the power to shut down the school, only to be reopened as another school, sometimes with new teachers and new students. Then the higher quality education process repeats itself.

A school should not be looked at as a company that is losing revenue. It is a place where young minds gather, in search of encouragement, stability and leadership. Instead, thanks to government controlled education, they receive a slap on the wrist, a kick in the butt, a look-what-you’ve-done-to-our-school, and for good measure, an unjust feeling of failure. Predictably, creativity suffers.

Can the needs of students, individually and collectively, be met when so much emphasis is placed on government-controlled testing?

Scores that students receive on these tests dictate the classes they will participate in during the following school year. Advanced placement or remedial programs are the students’ just rewards. This form of testing mandates that students become categorized, creating different perceptions of self worth. Rather than allowing the student to be an individual, the state makes sure the student understands that he/she is nothing more than a score, a mere statistic.

Although offered in many schools, often overlooked are the arts, including choir, band, painting, graphic design and photography, among others. Athletic programs continue to deflect criticism. Forget that multi-million dollar contracts are given to athletes, some still teen-agers, some who couldn’t spell cat if you spotted them the C and the A, to participate in the big bucks arena of professional sports.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that what our children now learn is influenced by what our teachers now teach. Or aren’t allowed to teach. School children today are taught toward the state mandated test. Benchmark testing is given throughout the year by the teachers, helping them determine the proper course of action for their school’s success.

Note that. Thanks to government mandates, naturally gifted teachers must alter their natural talent to fall in, lockstep, with controlled teaching methods. Consequently, students are learning a government-controlled test format. Pity those who fail to see the long term consequences of this action.

Add in the media attention given on state-mandated test results, and one can see where this is headed. If publicly announced test results are successful, little attention is given to the teachers. There is no chest-thumping, in-your-face glaring or duck-walking celebration in the end zone. There is no pay raise either. However, if failure occurs, rest assured the teacher receives notice.

As if state mandated testing in our public school systems weren’t absurd enough, some parents can now sleep easy at night knowing that, in certain public schools, their honor students may never see another perfect score.

Thanks to differing management philosophies, not to mention skills, or a lack thereof, some administration officials believe that a perfect score indicates the attainment of the pinnacle of success, which in turn allows failure to set in. According to this mentality, or belief, no one is perfect, therefore a perfect score of 100 is impossible, and the student’s success can be better achieved with a score of 97. Good luck next time. Remember, failure is not allowed.

Some teachers are instructed, by some administration officials, not to give out perfect scores. No longer can the students’ search for perfection be a possibility. This will encourage students, straight A or otherwise, to try harder, so says administration. No perfect scores allowed.

Forget about the self-motivated student, the over-achieving student, the student with sights set on academic grants or scholarships, the student aiming to be valedictorian or salutatorian, or the student in search of perfection.

On the positive side, the overachievers no longer have to worry about giving their all and trying their best, only to bring home a score of 98 and have their parents throw the “why didn’t you try harder” question at them.

With agendas firmly in place, thanks to government control and administration absurdities, our students and our teachers become victims. Creative skills, both learned and taught, are stifled. Mind control is a risky business, and under the guise of testing, we allow the government free reign, giving new meaning to the phrase “Is our childrens learning yet?”

Perhaps instead of bailouts for companies that fail, thanks to false accounting practices, the they’ve-got-theirs-I’ll-get-mine mentality, and tax breaks for deceit, our government could put our tax dollars to better use by giving teachers and students the resources and incentives they need to teach and learn. Rather than government mandated obstacles.

Perhaps we should all just chalk it up to yet another brilliant incentive scheme.