Senator Sipes and the Shell Game

It seems that state Senator Connie Sipes of the 46th district would like enact a law that would change the way graduation rates are calculated. I do not know the exact equation, but I bet the outcome is more federal money. Now we all know that the more money a school receives is directly proportional to the IQ of the students - right? I would like to take the focus off of what we must do to get more money and back onto teaching kids to be leaders and problem solvers. Elementary school kids waste a month each year studying for and taking the ISTEP exams (two months in the 08-09 year). Passing this exam is the most important thing to the teacher's union. Second most important is making sure teachers never have to be tested themselves. I'm not against testing our kids. I am against teaching our kids to memorize and learn testing formats for the sake of passing a test instead of teaching them common sense and problem solving skills. What good is a graduation without the simple skills that are needed to navigate through life? 12% of Hoosiers have not completed high school. Senator Sipes would like to lower it instantly. The brain drain, however, will remain high.