An Ode to F-CAT

In Florida (the Hurricane State) the education system is based around getting students to pass the Florida Assessement and Review Test. Perhaps this poem will give you a good idea of my attitude on it.

F-CAT's a bore
To the point it's a chore,
And it's easy beyond all compare.

If you pored through its lines,
You'd be hard-pressed to find
A difficult question in there.

To take it we've hours,
And they've done all in their powers
To make sure that we do not play after.

We cannot do good deeds.
We can't even read.
But just wait, it gets even dafter.

On it they grade our school.
It's not used as a tool,
For the teachers don't get back the test.

All we get is a number
Which is really quite dumber
Teachers can't tell if we've done our best.

It's printed in color,
Which makes it even duller,
Knowing we've wasted ink on such tripe.

If I ran the state,
(Which I haven't to date)
I'd choose tests of a different type.