Tonight at dinner, my parentals and myself held a very intense conversation following my statement of, "When I am president I will..."
The first issue I addressed was standardized testing--recall this post and this one, where I complain about the standardized testing of the state of Virginia--something that will cause less of a burden to our society. As you may have read, or not, I had to go through the annoyance of almost retaking tests that I didn't need in the first place. (I actually took two english ones which were a joke, as I scored one and two points from being perfect scores. -_-" But I digress.) If we had a national standardized test there would be no need for the states to see if out-of-state tests are equivalent--something that shouldn't be happening anyway. It would cover the basic subjects required but would exclude state history; which is quite obvious why it cannot be part of the test, but for clarification purposes: how well would a Mississippi kid do on a test about California? What I would also like to do is lessen the emphasis on this test as it really is just to see how the country is doing in the educational world. Sure it would be important but not so important that teachers "teach to the test", so to speak. I know that a lot of states would be opposed to this as it would take away their freedom to run schools the way they want but I don't view it that way. I see it as a way to simplify things for every state, as a way to bring everyone onto the same page. I think that states will argue that they do not have to money for such a test, but it would be infinitely cheaper than each state making its own test. The way I picture it is there will be a select number of test creators from every state who come up with this national test at a yearly committee at a location that will change every year, there will also be whatever number of test graders in each state so that it's not such a hassle. After copies of the scores are sent to the appropriate schools and students, the originals go the the portion of the government that handles education which is where the committee will decide what works, what doesn't, if the test is challenging enough, and so on and so forth. This will give us numbers for out nation as a whole and hopefully it will eliminate some of the ignorance in the population of today's young people. If this elaborate plan does not get approved, I think that (as president) I would make it mandatory for all states to accept the test of others, end of story. It would make it so much easier on military families and civilian families will feel no difference either way this standardized testing thing works out.
The second issue I addressed was woman's rights. Yes it feels as though women are equal individuals but have you looked at the Constitution of the United States lately? Let me answer your question before you ask, no, I am not a feminist. I do not believe in "sheros", the female form of hero according to some feminist groups. What I believe is that we are all human beings and we should all be treated the same. None of this "boys will be boys, girls will be girls" nonsense. No double standards, no excuses, just pure equality. Should women be allowed on the battlefield? Why not? If a woman is physically and mentally able to meet the standards that a man must meet, then there is no reason in the world not to let her fight. Do you know what the only right granted to women is? Suffrage: the right to vote. That's it. The Constitution grants that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States of by any State on account of sex." But what about everything else? Races are equal to men but women aren't--they can only vote. If the United States wanted to, they could practically strip everything away from woman except the right to vote and isn't that a shame? Look at this country that we call so grand, so powerful and yet... we cannot even grant the simple liberty of equality to all human beings of the United States. Yes, woman are part of "we the people" and I think that waiting around for something to change will not work. Something needs to be done to strike a commotion, to create controversy, to get Americans to actually THINK! Of course this will not change the mindset of a lot of people but it could very well be a turning point in our history. How are we still singling out an entire HALF of our people? It's unforgivable, I tell you. I have to mention that this does nothing to bash women who want to stay at home rather than work, more power to you ladies--the right to chose how you will live in this country is the beauty of it, isn't it? (Well given it's not actually granted... you get my point.) I know that problems will arise from this, for example, females using the excuse that their body is different and that they should not have to meet the standards that men meet... Well I have to strongly disagree--if women want equality, they will get it. COMPLETELY. Women and men will be challenged as equals, they will fight for the same positions, they will aim for the same scores... regardless of who they are because that's what it means to truly be equal. And that, my friends, is where I bid you goodnight.
