Tennessee Student: Is Standardization Making Us Conform to an Ill Formed Bureaucracy?
A remarkable video has been making the rounds, of a Tennessee student named Kenneth Ye, a senior at Farragutt High School in Knox County. He recently spoke to to his local school board on the subject of the Common Core and the high stakes reform he has seen enacted in recent years. I reached out to Mr. Ye, and asked if he would share his comments here, and respond to some questions. Here is the result.
Kenneth Ye's remarks to the school board:
I am Kenneth Ye. I stand before you today as someone who has achieved within the mold of standardization. I speak as a student that has taken the tests and jumped through the hoops.
I've taken over 12 Honors courses and 18 AP courses so far in my high school career.
I'm a National Merit Semifinalist. A National AP Scholar. I scored a 35 on the ACT composite the first time I took it. And I am a proud product of Knox County Schools.
It's my teachers that have inspired me to learn and pursue my interests. It's my teachers that have sent me towards success in academics and extracurriculars. It's my teachers that have FOSTERED a sense of creativity, inquisitiveness, and individuality that inspires me to learn.
However, as our schools take another step to becoming the next big bureaucracy in America, I would like to call for a conference of concern. With the new Common Core system, I see us shifting even further into a "one size fits all" factory of education, where we churn out students seen as
