by KYW's Mark Abrams

New York City is proposing to give standardized tests to kindergartners. But that’s a move many say just doesn’t seem to add up.

The tests are being proposed by New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who sees them as a way to measure overall performance of the schools.

But the move has stirred controversy among teachers and parents in the Big Apple who say 90-minute standardized tests at one sitting are too much.

They also worry the results could be used to prematurely classify a student’s abilities.
Jackie of Pennsauken, NJ called the idea outrageous:

“They’re just learning their name and their address and you’re going to give them a 90-minute math test? That’s a little much. I think that’s just something else that the parent would have to teach the kid that whole summer before they went into kindergarten. That’s a lot to put on a kid that young.”

Philadelphia is not believed to be looking at such a step.