DEAR ALIZARIN: PSAT This!

This year all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders at my school will take the PSAT. Once again, I am forced to sacrifice precious instructional time with my 10th graders who are still reading at a middle school level in order to indulge the whims of administrators giddy for experimentation. The logic for spending $12 (estimate) a pop for about 2000 students to take the exam is that the students who take the PSAT are more likely to go to college. Yes. This is the reason given. I also hear people who go to law school are more likely to be lawyers, so maybe we should find money to pay for all these students to go to law school. Nevermind that (having just gone through the review of the PSAT) most of my students will not be able to comprehend the directions. Surely, after this humiliating experience that once again makes a mockery of our classroom time, my students will suddenly be inspired and motivated to find their place in the esteemed halls of higher education. I am sure that $24,000 couldn't be spent on anything more useful, such as hiring an additional teacher to relieve our overcrowded rooms.