Re: the Sept. 7 article "Catalina Foothills at top, Sunnyside, TUSD at bottom on AzMERIT scores."
The article could have been reduced to a single sentence: The latest Arizona test data once more shows that zip code is the best predictor of test performance. It would have been real news if that were not true.
Does the test data provide any useful information? No. Should Sunnyside be pushing their students to score higher on the test? No! Are high scoring schools better schools? Not necessarily.
Arizona spends money on useless tests it could better spend on students and teachers. Access to education is far from equal, and until we recognize that health and education are universal rights that deserve the highest priority in our society, tests will continue to show zip code predicts test performance.
Ken Goodman
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Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.