Our school’s mission statement stresses community, cooperation, and personal and intellectual growth. But one of our school’s practices—selecting a valedictorian and salutatorian each year—does not support our mission. This practice is divisive, it is unfair, it is archaic. So let’s end it now! For some students, jockeying for these positions begins when they start high school. They choose classes they can ace, as well as AP and IB courses that boost their grade-point averages, rather than ones that excite their interest or challenge them. They pay plenty and spend hours in classes that promise to raise standardized test scores. Successful candidates are routinely accused of gaming the system. The formula for selecting the two “top” students is complex; selection can turn on several zeroes after a decimal point. At several schools around the country, students who lost out as valedictorian have sued. Is this the kind of situation we want to encourage at our school?
Which of the following sentences most clearly expresses an opinion?
A. Our school’s mission statement stresses community, cooperation, and personal and intellectual growth.
B. This practice is divisive, it is unfair, it is archaic.
C. They pay plenty and spend hours in classes that promise to raise standardized test scores.
D. The formula for selecting the two “top” students is complex; selection can turn on several zeroes after a decimal point.
