Debate
Should candidates for Congress be required to pass competency tests?

YES
Simone L. Gobel teaches grades one, two, and three at Hansen Elemen-tary School in Olympia, Washington. A six-year teaching veteran, she's active in the Olympia Education Association's work with the Washington state legislature.

The U.S. Constitution outlines the qualifications needed for someone to become a representative or a senator:

Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

Clause 3: No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

Wow! High standards indeed!

To become a teacher or a school bus driver, on the other hand, you have to meet requirements that go beyond simply living to a certain age or being a citizen for a number of years.

Shouldn't would-be members of Congress have to meet meaningful standards, too? I think so. So let's ask them to pass a congressional competency test.

As a teacher, I'm expected to prove my competency all the time--by legislators who have little or no knowledge of my profession. Many of these legislators make teachers the scapegoats for the ills that ail public education. Those ills, they tell us, have nothing to do with budget cuts and underfunding. They're the teachers' fault.

Their answer? Make those teachers prove their competence! That'll solve everything, or so we're told by lawmakers.

It's time to turn the tables. Let's see if those lawmakers can prove their own competence. I know just the sort of questions to ask:

If you had to make a decision on a bill dealing with education, what would you do?

1. Check with my mother, she gives great advice!
2. Roll the dice and support the bill if I roll a seven or higher.
3. Ask the person who treated me to the best dinner.
4. Consult with educators!

I'm sure you could come up with plenty of questions of your own. Who, after all, knows how to give better tests than we do?

In the end, of course, I know this is all just wishful thinking.

Realistically, can we force all candidates for Congress to take competency tests? No, of course not. But we can and we do, through our Association, interview and recommend those candidates who really know education.

We ask questions, during the interview process, about candidate views on everything from vouchers and school safety to compensation. We recommend candidates based on their answers. And then, after the elections, we try to make sure we keep those we recommend up-to-date on where we stand on issues that impact schools and students.

Do we want members of Congress who simply meet the constitutional requirements? No. We want members of Congress who see the need to fund education, who realize that teachers and support staff are part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Let's go out and complete our "competency testing" for congressional candidates--at the ballot box.

NO
Charles Barkley teaches mathematics at the Earle B. Wood Middle School in Rockville, Maryland. He has 28 years classroom experience, and he's also a first-term member of the Maryland state legislature.

As a mathematics teacher, it's extremely important that I know my subject matter in order to be an effective teacher. A test to determine if I know mathematics seems appropriate. But my teaching and classroom management skills can't be measured with a paper-and-pencil test.

Similarly, as an elected state legislator, what competency test would you give me to determine if I'm able to serve as your representative? Would you test me just on how the government operates, or on my knowledge of a variety of subjects? Would current officeholders write the test? What would a passing score be?

I don't believe a competency test would give voters the best possible choices, not for the statehouse or for Congress.

The real competency test for me as an elected official is wheth-er I can convince you that I could truly represent your views. Can I articulate your viewpoints and be willing to stand up for them even if the legislative leadership doesn't feel the same way?

I passed my competency test back in November 1998, when the voters in my district gave me enough votes to represent them in the Maryland House of Delegates.

I ran as a classroom teacher. Education was the top issue, and I ran as someone who had been in the classroom, on the firing line.

In my campaign, I argued that, as a teacher, I knew what it would take to solve the problems facing public education.

Our classes, I explained, are too large. Our buildings need to be modernized. We need more resources, like up-to-date textbooks for every child, and in-creased salaries for all education employees.

By introducing myself as a teacher, I was immediately able to gain the trust of the voters. They were willing to open up and share their views about education.

I also ran with the full support of the teachers in my local and the state. As an educator, I did not have the best-funded campaign, but I did have hundreds of other teachers and support staff who were always there when I needed their help. I would not have been elected without them.

I think I proved my competence to voters in my district.

But I have another reason for arguing "no" to competency tests for congressional candidates.

I believe representatives should represent a true cross-section of the voters. Legislative bodies should be made up of teachers, lawyers, farmers, bankers, real estate agents, nurses, doctors, accountants, social workers, homemakers, business people, retirees, and people from many other lines of work.

I do not believe there is a test out there that would cover all of the skills these people represent.

To me, the Maryland General Assembly is just one big classroom. The kids are a little bigger. Some are more outspoken than others. Some act like bullies. Some even cut class. This classroom definitely needs a lot more teachers.

Do I need a competency test to determine if I can represent you there? No, I just need the experience of facing the same problems you face.