@lostaccount, oh yes, there’s definitely a lot of that around here. I just roll my eyes.
I’m annoyed about the regents because my son is taking honors Chem next year. The teacher writes a final because the regents exam doesn’t cover all the material. Fine. The course guide says that the class will prepare the students for the SAT subject test in chemistry and my son will likely take it.* Fine. AND the course guide says that they have to take the regent. Not fine. There isn’t a single solitary reason that he should. It serves no purpose that I can see.** There is entirely too much standardized testing and I don’t care how easy the test is or how well prepared for it he’ll be from studying for the other tests, he has better things to do with the time.
*Right now, he wants to major in CS and will likely apply to some engineering programs, which tend to want subject tests in Math 2 and a hard science, so the Chem subject test makes sense.
**What purpose could it serve? It’s not the final; the teacher writes one. He doesn’t need it for his science regent; he’s taking the bio regent this year. Even if he wanted it for his fifth regent (or towards an advanced diploma, which his school doesn’t seem to offer anyway) the subject test is an approved alternative assessment.