The State of the State

My latest internet research shows the State of California ranking #47 on the best education list, with Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut topping out the #1, 2 and 3 spots respectively.  But California is #47.  Because I do enjoy math, I want to point out something to those of you who do not enjoy it quite so much.  47 is three away from 50, which is the number of states in the Union, and in this particular circumstance, 50 is the WORST position to be in.  California hasn't hit rock bottom yet, and I for one, am confident this is because of California's stringent teaching requirements.  Allow me to explain.

Three weeks ago I took a state required Technology and Education test.  If you know me, odds are that I have been your "go-to" guy for technology for some time.  At one point, I even endeavored on an entrepreneurial startup with Parky and founded Emagine IT.  IT stands for "Information TECHNOLOGY".  Due to my background in technology, I figured the test would be a no brainer, but as it turns out - I was no match for this test - I failed.  There were 8 sub-sections in the technology test; one of which was to create a gradebook in Excel for three students, weight four assignments, and show their scores in a percent.  Well, I have put together 6 year projected financials for start-up companies, navigated 140 megabyte excel data files which I parsed information using automated filters and macros, and exported to bake up immense Access databases from scratch. So I looked at this assignment and thought - "3 minutes, tops".  Begin timer.  2 minutes and 48 seconds later, I was printing out the assignment and turning it in.  Here are my results below:

Can you read the red writing?  I'll blow it up here, just in case you can't.

"Compute arithmetic averages to two decimal places".  I failed this test because I failed to compute my averages to two decimal places.  If I were to extrapolate this further, I could say that California's students are failing because teachers aren't being accurate enough in their grading.  I'd think if somehow the state could get past the idea that 89.99% is really A- work quality, their grades would overall go up, and reflect a little more highly on the state as a whole.  But California has standards.  They're not willing to compromise and let those precious percentage points slip away like their liberal east coast rivals of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut.  Let them have their sloppy education system, but for California - let's keep our teachers honest!  

The retake is two weeks from now.  My only hope is that I can figure out how to get those last two pesky decimal points to show up between now and then.