If Monday was a test of Oklahoma’s state mandated examination system, Superintendent of Education Janet Barresi and that system on that day received an “F.”

And their overall grade isn’t much better.

It’s a system that’s become overly dependent on regimented tests, an issue that has caused discord with educators across the state. It was also a system that was supposed to bring positive change, to make the debacle that was the federal “No Child Left Behind” simply a distant bad memory. That’s not the case.

On Monday, middle and high school students taking online exams were “kicked off” the program when it suddenly failed. For some that meant the loss of a test they had almost completed; for others, they never had a chance to take it in the first place. Both local districts and the state Department of Education scrambled to suspend testing while the company contracted with the state to perform the test – CTB/McGraw Hill – was tasked with determining the problem.

The issue wasn’t just one particular day or even the 6,000 students impacted on Monday. This was a problem that occurred almost to the day a year before. Barresi should have been aware of what she was facing when continuing with CTB/McGraw Hill. While no one knows why she chose to remain with the company after last year’s issues, everyone knows the result – a hardship on students and school districts alike.

Even parents aren’t always aware of the pressure today’s testing puts on these people. Some teachers say they can’t work with the curriculum they would like, being forced to “teach to the test.” Months are spent in preparation to get the best scores possible. It’s an embarrassment for a district to do badly – and it has financial consequences, administrators say.

“People look at these scores and it does have a determining factor on whether they’ll choose your district for their kids to attend,” El Reno School Superintendent Craig McVay said last year.

McVay took a leadership role in Monday’s debacle, openly expressing his frustration with a system that is more about numbers than it is about learning. Students should be evaluated and districts should be accountable, he says, but not for some random criteria that can’t even be implemented by the state correctly.

We agree.

It is time for a good, hard look at education in Oklahoma. We are failing – and not because we have a lack of dedicated administrators, teachers and staff. On a local level, to a huge degree, we are blessed with teachers who do the best for our kids each and every day.

What is failing them is the political cartoon that is state testing. Things aren’t better since No Child Left Behind, they are worse, and that’s unacceptable. Oklahoma’s future is riding on these children, and they are being taught that learning is simply rote memorization, that they are the tool behind a district’s failure or success. That lesson is coming from the districts – it goes far beyond that.

It is time for us to allow our local administrators and teachers to do what they do best – teach. Let these children learn, and perhaps most important, learn to love school and everything it has to offer. School shouldn’t be something suffered through so a random grade (that even state administrators have a difficult time explaining) can hurt even the best of school districts.

Here in Mustang – and, truly, throughout Canadian County – we are blessed to have educators who are caring, dedicated and smart and who want the best for our kids. Their hands are tied by politicians on the state level who don’t know our children – to them, your daughter, my son, your grandkids are a number, plain and simple.

This system must be changed and the time is way past for that to be accomplished. Only we can do something and that begins with contacting our legislators and telling them how we feel about this broken system and what a disservice is being done not only to our children and those who educate them but also to our future.

It’s time to take action for them. Let’s not let another year go by with this kind of failure – not on their part but on the state officials who cannot seem to see the intelligence and talent that’s right in front of them.

Final Point,

By Kyle Salomon,

When it comes to the NBA playoffs, many people wonder why lower-seeded teams are able to compete with the higher seeds.

The answer is relatively simple. It is all about matchups in the NBA.

For instance, you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder and their series with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Thunder is the No.2 seed in the Western Conference and considered a favorite by many experts not only to win the West, but reign victorious as the NBA champions in late June.

However, Oklahoma City finds itself tied in the first-round series with the Grizz at one game apiece and has lost the home-court advantage for now.

The Thunder put a spanking on Memphis in the opening game of the series last Saturday night, but the Grizzlies bounced back and clawed and scratched their way to a road victory Monday night in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Oklahoma City is struggling with the No.7 seeded Grizzlies because Memphis plays a style of basketball that is not conducive for what the Thunder like and need to do to be successful and win basketball games.

The Grizz slow the game down to a pace that makes the tortoise look like a speeding bullet. The Thunder like to play at a pace that makes the hare look like it’s running in mud.

Memphis wants to pound the rock inside to their two big bruising post players, Marc Gasol and Zac Randolph, who each have the ability to score from any position in the paint. This type of offense gives the Thunder fits because OKC is not built to handle an inside heavy team.

Yes, Oklahoma City will prevail in the series and advance to the next round, but it won’t be a “normal” first-round series where the higher seed makes the lower seed look like a junior high basketball team. The Thunder will be bruised and battered coming out of the Memphis series, but hopefully their young bodies will heal quickly before the quarterfinal round begins.

Another example of a classic NBA matchup that favors the Thunder is the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have been one of the best professional sports franchises in the last 16 years. It is no coincidence that Spurs forward Tim Duncan has been with the team for 16 years. Duncan is the cornerstone of the Spurs franchise, much like Kevin Durant is for OKC.

San Antonio had the best record in the entire NBA this regular season, winning 62 games and clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, including the NBA Finals.

However, when it comes to playing the Thunder, the Spurs are 0-4 against their Western Conference nemesis this season. Oklahoma City brings an element of youth, athleticism and explosiveness that gives the elderly, savvy Spurs problems when they share a basketball court.

San Antonio plays a ball-movement style of offense that is predicated on the pick-and-roll screen action at the top of the key with 3-point shooters on the wings awaiting a Tony Parker kick-out for an open trey.

Several years ago, the Thunder struggled to stop this attack from the Spurs, but as Oklahoma City has matured, they have figured out how to slow down the SA offense using their length on the perimeter combined with their overall athleticism in the paint.

There is no doubt people in Oklahoma City would love to see a Spurs-Thunder matchup in the Western Conference Finals, but the folks down in San Antonio are hoping OKC gets called home from the playoffs earlier than expected.

So, if you find yourself sitting on the couch watching these NBA playoffs and wondering to yourself how Memphis can hang with the Thunder, just remember, it is all about matchups.