[Ghoulish Delight]

My sister was a gifted student that never made it into the gifted system. It was ridiculous to witness her be absolutely frustrated to the point of tears, on a consistent basis, by the mainstream world. For a split second, despite having seen my sister go through it, I was planning on opting out of the gifted/magnet for high school in favor of going to my local high school (traveling 40 minutes to get to school, and longer to see friends was wearing thin). I am forever indebted to the teaching staff at North Hollywood Hgih magnet, not only for the education, but for that recruitment night where they successfully made their case for why I should attend. Best decision of my life.

Fvck test scores. Test scores demonstrate nothing more than an ability to take a test. The fanatical focus on test scores has crippled education. Teachers who actually want to teach are bailing by the dozen. My parents are both 30+ year teaching veterans. Teaching is their life and passion. My mom gave up, retired early, because she was no longer allowed to teach. She was being forced to become nothing more than a testing-coach. It was sad to see her so unhappy with teaching.