Nevada's Wasted Week Of Education

This week, most of Nevada High high school students will be taking proficiency exams or they will be affected by the tests.
Proficiency exams test a student's knowledge in science, reading, math and writing. Supposedly, it will tell people that people in Nevada know something. Well they are wrong.
First, these exams cost millions of dollars and man hours buying the test, passing out the tests in a secure manner, administering the tests, gathering up the tests in a secure manner and then grading the tests. This is not free and there are many people making good money from the company that lands the test contract to the people who grade the tests. It's a nice scam at the expense of taxpayers and students.
Then, on the days the tests are given, the students are herded into classrooms and take the test for almost 3 hours. The students who don't take the test or have passed it, don't go to class, for the most part. They treat the mornings of the test as free time, and at our school, they spend their time in the cafeteria. They go to class the last 2 or 3 periods of the day.
The teachers involved have to administer the test and if they are supposed to have a class while they are proctoring the test, their students go to the cafeteria.
This goes on from Monday to Thursday.
Then the tests are gathered and they are sent out to be graded. The written portion of the test is graded by teachers who are hired by the State of Nevada. More money down the drain.
In theory, proficiency exams are good. They are supposed to tell if a student is smart enough to get a diploma. But does it really? Now, the Hispanic community has the most students in the Las Vegas area and is close to being the most in the State of Nevada. Many of those students don't completely know the English language. They may know most of the material in Math and Science, but since the test is in English, many of these students will fail, thereby not graduating. And of course, this leads to our high drop out average in Nevada.
Most Special Education students will fail the test as well. Is this fair? I work with the severely disabled and with students who cannot read, write or speak. They are required to take an alternative test and that most special education students will fail. What does this accomplish?
Bottom line: Proficiency tests in Nevada are a waste of time and money. Students lose almost an entire week of education, the tests costs millions upon millions of dollars to administer and grade and that money could be better spent in the classrooms. It is also discriminatory against those who do not speak English and who are in Special Education. Eventually, the tests will be declared unconstitutional. And in the end, the tests really don't show much about the students who take the test.
It's time to get rid of proficiency testing and either refund the money back to the taxpayer or give the money used in the testing back to the classrooms.