Dear Future President of the United States,

Imagine a world where school age kids would rather stay up than worry about their results of the STAAR tests, have time to play and do what they enjoy. STAAR tests should not be given to students because of the stress it causes, and it does not test on what students study during the school year.

”Students are stressed. Parents are angry. Teachers and administrators are fed up. A tipping point of sorts was reached in 2013 when a rebellion by parents, teachers and administrators forced the Legislature to narrow the number of tests students must take to graduate from high school from 15 to five.” (Seaborn) “ Accountability is important in education. The testing companies get millions of dollars and use the money to get lawmakers to keep on testing forever.”(Seaborn)

According to the Statesman, 63 percent of the people surveyed want to get rid of the STAAR test and replace it with a national test like the SAT or the ACT. (Chang) Also, “80 percent people support allowing students to graduate or move on to the next grade even if they fail the test. Fifth and eighth grade students must pass the STAAR to move to the next grade and high school students must pass five STAAR end-of-course exams to graduate.” (Chang) 87 percent of the students and teachers surveyed that they prefer to get immediate feedbacks on the STAAR tests. 97 percent want tests with does not contain trick questions, many of which critics say are found on most test versions.

Another problem with STAAR tests is that it’s too long and the students need 8 hours over 2 days to finish the writing section. “The state agreed to shorten the 2016 tests by removing about 10 questions and one essay so students could complete the test in four hours.” (Chang)

In conclusion, Mr. or Madam President, STAAR tests create more problems, less educational benefits. There should be a variety of ways to measure the teacher capability to teach and student learning intake. Mandatory STAAR testing does not prove to have conclusive results and it is very costly tests from state tax money. If so, should you think getting rid of STAAR is a good point to start in reforming education when you get to the office?

Works Cited

Seaborn, Jody March 5 2015. "Standardized Testing and the Worries It Creates | Viewpoints." Viewpoints. N.p., 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Chang, Julie. "New Survey Shows Widespread Discontent with STAAR." Statesman. N.p., 20 July 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Chang, Julie. "Students Spending More Time on STAAR than Law Allows, Group Says." Statesman. N.p., 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.