RE: Exemptions to STAR and other standardized testing

I am so appreciative of the comments about standardized testing.  Every parent has a right to know that this testing is optional for their child, and it is unconscionable that parents are not regularly educated on that right.  To make this possible, schools should not be threatened with loss of funding when parents exercise this right.

I completely believe this testing frenzy is so completely anti-education, disrespectful of teachers, harmful to children, and costly to our State.  What on earth could we do if we abolished all standardized testing and gave the money to the students?  Arts and Sports programs fully funded?  Complete libraries?  Safer schools?

This is not pure idealism.  When legislators decide to understand that 99.9% of teachers teach for the thrill of seeing the light turn on for their students, and respect that teachers assess themselves and their achievements more critically than any fill in the bubble could ever do, perhaps we can remove this cancer from our educational system.  

What must Dewey think of us?