Too many questions to judge schools

THE MEDIA, including the Albuquerque Journal in a Jan. 16 editorial, is an example of buying into the perception given by reports with dismaying regularity that New Mexico schools are failing. We are told that New Mexico students are at the bottom of the pile when compared to the scores on standardized tests in other states.

I wonder if all the other states use the same standardized test that New Mexico does. Do the other states give the test at the same time of the year? Do all the other states require 180 days of instruction yet encourage students to be out of academic classes for sports? Do other states allow schools to have games and track meets during academic school hours? Do other states have students who live so far from school? Do other states have students from other ethnic groups in such numbers? Do other states have as many students as New Mexico has that live in poverty? Do other states change the way teachers are evaluated as often as New Mexico does?

It seems to me that clear and documented answers to these questions would help us understand the reports of failure in our schools.

BONNIE TRUJILLO Las Vegas