Student testing piece was spot on

Student testing piece was spot on

Finally! The Sunday, April 12, opinion-piece by Ralph Martire is an accurate assessment of the problems in evaluating the effectiveness of U.S. education via test scores.

As a former educator, I've long been disturbed by the shortsightedness of evaluating educational progress of students and the educational effectiveness of teachers without taking into account the tax-base of the school districts.

Since the available tax money is what "purchases" the quality of teachers, materials, and other educational experiences, it is central to the outcomes manifested by the students. Everyone knows, for example, that the New Trier school district's property tax base far exceeds that of, say, Harvey's. Thus, the resources available to New Trier students far exceed those available to Harvey students.

To evaluate outcomes of those, and other school districts, without taking account of their respective critical educational resources is ludicrous. Mr. Martire is correct. The politicians who created this setup have been shirking their responsibility, foisting it onto the educators who have no control over this situation. Thank you, Mr. Martire, for your erudite and cogent analysis.

Jean M. Alberti

Aurora