JAMESTOWN, New York - Surfing past the SWCS page I saw the schedule that was posted back nearly a month ago, with the dreaded Regents exams prominently posted.
I remember feeling the same sense of dread when one of those exams was near that I get now when I find an envelope in the mail that says IRS.
Some of those tests, I did well on: history, English. Math & science, well, not so hot, though I remember slamming the physics Regents test. (If there wasn't a Regents exam in physics, please don't tell me. It's such a nice memory...)
In California, we have a big debate going about the high school exit exam which basically tests students at about an 8th grade level (that's 8th grade today, which believe me is not the 8th grade we went through with Mrs. Dennison for math).
The public, well, ok, a segment of the public, says if these kids don't pass the test - and get a diploma - they won't get a job in our booming California service economy. I mean, who the hell is going to wait on people at Starbuck's? You certainly need a high school certification for that.
I do remember that we had a two-tiered system: a Regents diploma and another diploma that didn't requiring passing all those damned exams. I was led to believe that without a Regent's diploma, that getting into college wasn't a possibility. (Ooooh! They lied!) Had I been even half alert, I would've realized that junior colleges and out-of-state universities didn't care as much as NY State schools about these all-important Regents.
I've supported the high school exit exam here in California, even written a few opinion pieces about it for newspapers (Opinions, moi?) but the kicker I always put in - that tends to really tick people off - is that I believe the students should be allowed to take the test in Spanish or English.
Hell, they can take it in both if think they can pass it.
I get quite a bit of hate mail when I bring it up.
Were there Regents exams in our foreign language classes?
If there were, add French to my short list of Regent's exam disasters. But mercifully enough, I just can't remember at all.
Mon dieu!
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