I think testing is good, but all I am saying is I don't know what this particular test is and if it is fair or not, therefore i won't be throwing any stones until I see it for myself. It seems quite a few people are getting on here and doing that without seeing the test for themselves. And for marlin's post, there are going to be bad technicians in ANY field, that's just a given, although I wish this weren't the case. The training/testing is supposed to weed these people out. For an interesting perspective on this (licensing/gatekeeping in general), see February issue of scientific american - page 28 "license to work". Among interesting points:
-The Supreme Court gave the states the power to license in 1889.
-Today there are 800 occupations that require a license in one or more states, but only 50 occupations are licensed in ALL states.
-A study done from 1960 to 1987 found that increased licensing restrictions by state dentistry boards did NOT lead to improved dental care, but it did boost income for dentists.
-California has the highest percentage of lic. prof. at 30% while mississippi lic. only 6% of workers.
-historical statistics in general point to licensing being effective as a tool and not usually a gatekeeper (inhibiting job entry unfairly), this is good!
see the article for other interesting points and graphs.