A Bad Night, Huh

When checking my Yahoo email recently (mostly used as the email of choice when ordering online and such) I noticed this headline: Obama Vows 'Determined' Performance at Next Debate. For reasons that I cannot explain, I clicked on it.

The article mostly focuses on Obama's comments during an interview with Diane Sawyer. The critical quote from him, to me at least, was this one:

Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time.

He continues (at least in the article) with:

This was one event. We've got four weeks to go.

In this context I completely agree. I don't think one debate makes or breaks a presidential campaign. There are too many other factors, too many other chances to shine or falter.

Sadly that's not true for our public school students. They take that standardized test and if it's a bad day that can carry some powerful implications. A string of bad days can mean placement in remedial courses or not graduating.

If Obama is bad at debating (which I don't think is true based on past experiences, but roll with me here...) he has other ways of showing the voters why he should be reelected. He gives public speeches, has campaign commercials, and more. Students don't have this option. If they are bad at standardized testing, and some students must be, they don't have any other options. They just have bad day after bad day after bad day.