A teacher is always right

Fridays are my afternoon-heavy days, which is great when I have errands to run and adequate energy for them.

The clock is ticking before my original teaching certificate expires (ahem, this year), and so begins the complicated and frustrating task of fee-paying, form-filling, test-taking, hoop-jumping.

I've downloaded, printed and saved so much paperwork and checklists, and I've worked on the process long enough to be familiar with the steps required. There was just one discrepancy I couldn't figure out: The Praxis Test of Death.

There are two tests mentioned in the mountain of paperwork (from multiple sources): "Like You're Not Busy Enough Test 101" and "Raise Your Hand If You Know French Test 202". The official checklist and application mentions the first exam, but only after getting lost link after link do you ever learn about the second exam. For the life of me, I just couldn't figure out which one to take! To play is safe, I planned to register for both.

Naturally, I started with "Busy Enough Test 101". Sure enough, half-way through the registration process, my search process yielded 'zero test locations' for my state. Weird, I thought (since ETS head quarters are a few miles away), so I checked VT, NY, PA, DE, DC... nothing. A phone call (complete with long on-hold times) told me that I must have the test requirements wrong (or that it didn't exist anymore), and to double-check with my state department website (which I've come to hate). I called my lovely state department of education, who told me A) their information was in fact up-to-date, and B) it was not their job to handle test questions, and C) call ETS again.

FINE!

The next ETS representative had the intelligence to check with her supervisor about this discrepancy. I was starting to get nervous. What if they didn't back down? What if I had to fly to Alaska as my test location (ironically, they had one)? What if my application stayed in this limbo forever and my certification was doomed to expire, leaving me with no job, no money, no purpo--the woman came back to the phone line explaining that our state no longer required this test, but that "Raise Your Hand Test 202" had replaced it. Finally! An answer! Now if only I could convince the state department of education to believe me.

By the goodness of God, I got the same representative who remembered me. In my best non-whiny, confident and respectful tone (I remember customer service from retail), I pleaded my case. Thankfully, she listened and checked with her supervisor who confirmed that Test 202 had replaced Test 101. Since I knew this poor wowman was not responsible for writing and uploading the official state requirements, I felt it unnecessary to complain about the discrepancy.

Why must it be so difficult? Why can't we trust our government to be accurate? Why can't states trust each other's education programs? Why must I suffer this headache?

Then again, why should I be surprised that the process for these French exams are any more organized than their culture?