While reading "The Big Test" I am confronted with the same thought, what is the foundation of our society? I believe it is that we are a free, democratic and capitolist society. We promote freedom and equality for all. Although I believe we all agree that standardized tests do not adequately define one's true abilities or achievements, the principle of the test is no different than any other standard in our nation. I do not necessarily agree or disagree with this, but I accept that it is a reality. As an educator, I see first hand that there are many different value systems in our society. If we the people allow standards to be set, whether it for education or any other aspect of life, than we must understand that those who value the labor to acquire those standards will do so. Again, we the people have the power, but we continue to allow the implementation of such standards, so what does that say in general?

I think that it basicallt shows that while we strive for an ideal as a society, we are continually confronted with reality. Ibelieve that our society is based on prosperity and competition. Equality does not necesarily go hand in hand with that. WHen we speak of freedom, we speak for all, which means we all people to say what they want and earn what they want, which basically means someone will lose out.
I think that while we should strive to get better, we should not confuse our world with utopia. We will always have inequalities, and in our system, unfortunatly someone almost always wins or loses.

You have interesting thoughts on our society, classmates.

I think it is beneficial to remember that our country was based upon the concept of "opportunity" - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is a fact of life that we come into this world with varying assets of genetics, intelligence, parentage, economic status, geographic location, etc. So, life is "unfair" from the start.

I think I will always need to strive for a balanced perspective toward the "haves and have nots" in my classroom. As teachers, we can't "fix everything", but we should still try to provide the maximum education possible to all of the students entrusted to us. I would love to hear comments from the teachers in the class regarding this idea.