Wednesday, April 22, 2009

World News Wednesday: Supreme Court

I heard this story on NPR this morning and then again this evening.

First of all, I find it interesting that this case has gotten all the way to the Supreme Court. I'm not saying it isn't a valid case, but that's pretty dang big.

Now, I can understand why the case would be filed from the race point of view. The test was biased (although I'm still not really clear on how exactly it is biased) quite obviously considering the results. However, when it comes to the guys who were denied a promotion for the time being, I don't quite understand why they filed the complaint.

Yes, I get that they were passed over for a promotion that they had qualified for, but if they are confident in their abilities, a little bit of patience while the test was redone could have saved a lot of trouble. Perhaps they felt that they were not being recognized for their skill and I understand that, but I don't know if it justifies a court case.

Am I not being sensitive enough to their cause? Should they receive a temporary promotion just until it can be verified by the new test? If you were on the Supreme Court, which way would you vote?

1 comment:

Rachel said...

"Yes, I get that they were passed over for a promotion that they had qualified for, but if they are confident in their abilities, a little bit of patience while the test was redone could have saved a lot of trouble."

That's not really a fair statement. Imagine if you had scored very high on the SAT and because of that score you were accepted to your college of choice with a full academic scholarship. Then someone says the test was biased. Sure, you got that scholarship b/c of your GPA in addition to the test score so you're plenty smart enough to do it again. But who would want to sit through a 4 hour test again AND risk missing out on the scholarship?

I'm surprised this test didn't undergo testing BEFORE it was administered to the fire dept. I mean, was this a new test? How is this the first time this happened?

If I was on the Supreme Court, I'd rule to restructure the test and make everyone take it again (despite the incredible unfairness of it). But I'd also reprimand whoever dropped the ball in administering a faulty test.