Shall we hold your hand and sharpen your pencils for you, too?

Those poor low-income students! Most of them find it next to impossible to show up on a Saturday to take an SAT test. Seems they don't have transportation (I'll just bet the majority have a car), they can't take a day off from their jobs (I'll just bet the majority manage to take prom day off), they can't afford the fees (I'll just bet the majority of them have a computer and an ipod and a cellphone), and they have to babysit their younger brothers and sisters so their parents can work (I'll just bet that's the only Saturday in the year they have to do that).

So back some years ago, the taxpayers starting paying the testing fee of $49 for them, but, as you can see, the obstacles to showing up to take the test were just too great. So now, the Irving ISD will offer the test on a regular school day. I expect next year they'll offer to sharpen their pencils (which they'll hand out for free), provide them a Starbucks coffee, and sit and hold their hands while they take the test. That will certainly teach them how to be prepared for college.

"School-day SAT lets more kids take test." The Dallas Morning News; April 18, 2012; p. 1B.