'Highly Qualified'

Twenty plus years of working for the school district with workshops, sign language classes,  Right Response techniques, seminars not to mention hands on experience under my belt, they are now telling me, as well as other paraprofessionals, we need to take a test to deem us 'highly qualified'.

In my line of work I deal with preschool age children who have developmental delays. Our program consist of teaching them social skills, fine and gross motor, speech and language, taking coats and backpacks off as well as putting them on, sitting and attending activities, learning songs and finger plays, toilet training, behavior management , and anything else that might be on their IEP (Individual Education Program). A program which is tailored to each of  their individual needs.

If I had the correct amount of college credits or held a degree of some kind, I would be exempt from taking the test, but I don't. I now wish I finished my Veterinarian assistant degree back in my younger days because I would be considered more qualified for my job than I am now. 

I've read and reviewed the 90 question pretest and found all they want is for you to know how to read and comprehend a story, find the nouns, adjectives, verbs etc. in a sentence and know basic algebra. Of course, and I haven't quite figured how, this all fits into our preschool  program. 

I'll definitely be thinking about my new qualifications as I'm wiping the spit from my clothing, protecting myself from being bitten, trying to calm an out of control child while shielding another from getting hurt and hoping I don't get sick when I'm sneezed on. 

It's makes me proud to know the federal government, who is putting the squeeze on the school districts by withholding money for their programs unless the classified employees meet their criteria,  trust someone fresh off the boat.

By that I mean someone who either passed the test with no prior experience working with developmentally delayed three year old children, or has a degree in anything whether it be  basket weaving to rocket science, will be considered more qualified, or should I say highly qualified, than someone who has the training, knowledge, sense, understanding and over twenty years experience in the preschool classroom.