WASL’s negative impacts linger
The Columbian editorial staff is in error as it joins a chorus of media and others who are calling for state schools superintendent Randy Dorn to stick with the 2013 date requiring students to pass a new state math test. While it is understandable that the public is impatient with the seemingly poor progress that students have made in math, the exam hasn’t even been created yet and it needs to be evaluated for legitimacy before we require kids to pass it in order to graduate.
It would be unfair to students if we don’t make absolutely sure that the new exam is a valid measure of what students need to know.
The state of Washington has yet to prove that it can create a legitimate high school exit exam. The fact that neither Terry Bergeson nor Dorn could answer the simple WASL questions given to them during the last campaign should give everyone pause that maybe there was something wrong with the test itself. If we don’t want to repeat the WASL fiasco, we need to create an exam and make sure it is completely vetted before we push further failed experiments on our kids.
Bob Dean
CAMAS
Keep power line out of Hockinson
I am concerned about the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project. I live in the Hockinson area and request support to stop the proposed high voltage, 150-foot tower power line in our neighborhood, Segment 31.