PUBLISHED: June 21, 2006 | By Jane Hirschmann | New York Times

To The Editor:

Why do so many NYC and NYS high school students fail to graduate? (NYTimes, A Third of Dropouts Never Get Beyond 9th Grade, Report Says) Could it have something to do with New York State’s 5 mandated exit exams -- the most draconian high school graduation requirements in the country? Let’s connect the dots. With so much riding on the exams, schools have become test prep factories driving out large numbers of aliented and disaffected students. Even the most eager young teachers don’t last under such conditions as evidenced by the high rate of teacher turnover (50 percent leave within 5 years.) What we need is more teaching, less testing.

Jane Hirschmann
Chairperson
Time Out From Testing