Teachers object to testing

   Conscientious objectors are people who refuse to serve in the armed forces on moral or religious grounds. But in New York, a teacher is looking to broaden the definition. Diane Ravitch writes on her blog about Rick Bobrick, a veteran teacher in New York who is tired of being forced to administer to students high-stakes tests that he thinks are punitive and antithetical to real learning. He wants teachers to have the right to opt out of administering standardized tests they think are harmful to students. As it is now, teachers can be fired for refusing to administer a mandated test. Why, he asks, shouldn’t there be a law protecting the rights of teachers to refuse to do what they know is wrong? Why not give teachers the right to be conscientious objectors?” (Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post Cheat Sheet)