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In their letters criticizing the Virginia Standards of Learning tests, Mickey Vanderwerker (Nov. 29), Wayne Clay Harrison (Dec. 7) and Andy Shallal (Dec. 9) neglect to tell what the state standards were prior to the SOL tests.

In the past, the only test that students were required to pass to get a high school diploma was the Virginia Literacy Passport Test (VLPT). Most sixth-graders passed the VLPT! The state required only a sixth-grade education for a 12th-grade diploma.

That is why the average SAT score for Fairfax County Public School seniors is only at the 65th percentile, a number so low that the school system is too embarrassed to publish it.

In contrast, Fairfax County ranks at the 99th percentile for educational level of adults and household income, which are supposedly the principal determinants of academic achievement.

Fairfax County is also too embarrassed to publish its SAT II achievement test results because they are so low.

Statewide, only 55 percent of freshmen at Virginia four-year colleges graduate; Fairfax County has never provided any data to show that its students do better than the state average. Despite having a supposedly top-notch school system, Fairfax County shares in Northern Virginia's chronic shortage of 20,000 technology workers.

The SOLs would require Fairfax seniors' average SAT percentile to rise from the 65th to the 80th. This conclusion is based on comparing each high school's SAT percentile with the number of SOL tests passed.

For example, Mount Vernon High School, which scores at the 44th percentile on SATs, passed only three of 11 SOL tests. Langley High School, which scores at the 77th percentile on SATs, passed 10 of 11 tests. SAT critics apparently believe that Fairfax County students are capable of only 65th percentile work. I believe our students and teachers are capable of at least 80th percentile work.

There have been criticisms of questions. The sample questions for Algebra I involve the equation of a straight line, solving two linear equations, and quadratics. The SOL critics would not require high school graduates to master these basic skills.

The SOL critics want subjective assessments that have no accountability. These critics include the associations for elementary school principals, high school principals, school counselors and school superintendents. Critics also include the state's largest teachers union and the PTA.

Parents who support accountability for schools should join the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance (www.fcta.org) instead of the PTA, which opposes accountability.

Finally, Mr. Shallal says that the SOLs are an attempt to discredit public schools and pave the way for the tuition tax credits that Delegates Dick Black and Jay Katzen are going to propose to the Virginia General Assembly. However, why should taxpayers be required to subsidize public schools that require only a sixth-grade education for a 12th-grade diploma?

ARTHUR G. PURVES

President, Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance