Vote no on school measures

Treat hospitals like schools?

Imagine a future where hospitals and doctors were rated based on the results of one physical fitness test administered to all patients once a year.

Hospitals and doctors whose patients did not perform well would be placed in hospital improvement, and expected to show significant growth on the test the following year or face sanctions.

Salaries would be based on how well their patients scored on the test even if some patients chose to ignore doctors’ advice to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and avoid using unhealthy substances.

If the patients continued to score poorly on the test for multiple years in a row, the entire hospital staff, including the doctors, could be fired with the state stepping in to take over running the hospital.

Ridiculous future? Of course it is! Yet it’s the current reality for schools and teachers in Idaho and across the nation. They are blamed and punished even though on the day of the test some students come to school hungry, tired, neglected or abused. Some have cognitive impairments, emotional and behavioral disorders, or are just in a bad mood on test day.

Please help stop this craziness! Vote no on Idaho Propositions 1, 2 and 3.

Susan Mahoney

Viola, Idaho