1. As a high school student, what special perspective can you bring to the State Board of Education?

2. As a non-voting board member, how do you plan to influence the board's deliberations?

3. Last year, the legislature passed a law requiring schools to use a student's performance on the 10^th grade Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) as one, but not the exclusive, way of assessing students' skills before allowing them to graduate. What do you think of requiring a passing CAPT score as a graduation requirement? Do you think test results should be the basis for making decisions about student promotion and graduation? Should they factor at all? If not, how can schools determine if students have mastered sufficient material to advance to the next grade level or earn a high school diploma?

4. The U. S. Supreme Court recently heard a case in which a high school student challenged her school's authority to test students for drugs based on their participation in non-athletic extracurricular activities. The Court upheld schools' right to test athletes in 1995. What do you think of random drug testing in high schools? Should schools have a right to test students who may pose a danger to themselves or others? Should they only test students they reasonably believe may be taking drugs? How should they identify these students? Does the school's goal of reducing drug use outweigh the students' right to privacy?

5. What constitutes plagiarism in the information age? Twenty-eight of 118 students in a Kansas high school received zeros on their projects for a biology class when the teacher realized they had stolen parts of their projects from the Internet. The students' parents complained to the school board, which ordered the teacher to raise their grades. The teacher resigned. Where is the line between research and plagiarism? How can teachers ensure their students are doing their own work when term papers are available for purchase and web sites offer information on every subject imaginable?

6. This session, the legislature's Public Health Committee favorably reported out a bill on school nutrition. The bill attempts to reduce and prevent childhood obesity and diabetes by creating a task force to adopt a state nutrition policy. Do you think nutrition is a problem among elementary and secondary students? What can the state do to encourage students to eat healthily and exercise?

7. The legislature's Public Safety Committee favorably reported a bill to grant funds to provide education on gambling-related problems. Do you think gambling is a problem in Connecticut's schools? If yes, how should we address it? If no, what would you prefer to see the legislature fund?

8. School violence is a problem throughout our country, and many schools have instituted strict policies to prevent potentially dangerous situations. Should schools expel students who carry Swiss Army knives in their backpacks, get into fights on school grounds, or are caught with alcohol? Or, have zero tolerance policies gone too far?

JG: eh