Children Being Left Behind

Words by Rafael Flores Jr.
San Fernando High School

In elementary school, in each grade you will learn how to read and write up to a certain level. Your reading level is then tested by a standardized test such as the CAT6. Then you pass onto the next grade until you reach middle school. In middle school most kids begin to fall behind. Test scores noticeably drop and students who should repeat the grade go right on through to the next grade thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act passed by the current administration.
All through middle school you will repeat this test just like you will in high school. In high school you take a test called the CAHSEE. The CAHSEE is a high school exit exam in which a student must reach a certain level of comprehension in order to graduate high school. This level is set at seventh grade. Most students in the San Fernando Valley are having trouble passing this test. But they will continue to pass onto the next grade and the next grade until they reach their senior year in high school where they will get stuck because they can’t pass the CAHSEE.

What exactly is this supposed to teach us? They continue to pass you even though they know you are unprepared for the next grade, yet they expect you to pass a test in order to graduate. If you cannot pass the test by the time you are 19 they will kick you out of school and you will have to go to adult school and take the GED. Colleges and Universities don’t look highly on the GED. How will most of us get into college and earn a better living? It seems that this is not a worry when legislation like No Child Left Behind is passed. It’s as though the sixties never happened and no one is doing anything about it. Word to the wise, history repeats itself. It will have to if no one is speaking on behalf of the youth.