Wis. teacher protests No Child law

David Wasserman had sat in the teachers' lounge Tuesday, leaving his colleagues to oversee the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam. The test is used to measure whether schools are meeting annual benchmarks under the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush's signature education policy. Schools that do not meet goals can face sanctions.

Like many teachers, he said he believes the test is a poor way to measure student progress, takes up too much class time and is used unfairly to punish schools. So after years of growing frustration, he said he decided to be a "conscientious objector" this year.

Wasserman had planned to resume his protest for five more days of testing. But he said district officials warned he would be fired from Sennett Middle School if he did.

On Thursday, he was allowed to sit at his desk for 90 minutes but still have two other teachers oversee the test for his 30 eighth-grade students.

"I was able to stick to my morals. I did not have to touch a single test booklet. I didn't have to read a single direction," he said. "I sat there quietly while the students were working really hard on this really unnatural assessment that they are not used to."

He added: "I did get one kid an eraser. That's what I did for an hour and a half."

He said he planned a similar routine during the final four days of testing next week.

District spokesman Ken Syke said Wasserman fulfilled his required duties on Thursday and "administered the test."

Syke said the district would not comment on any possible discipline for the initial protest, but Wasserman said he was told he would get a letter of reprimand in his personnel file for insubordination.

Wasserman, 36, said he was considering whether to appeal the reprimand with the teacher's union but said he was glad to keep his job.

FairTest, a national group that opposes the overuse of standardized tests, said it was unaware of any other similar actions by teachers protesting the law.

Wasserman said teachers and parents bombarded him with phone calls and e-mail messages Thursday after news of his protest spread nationwide. He said that some critics have falsely accused him of not caring about his students but that the vast majority of messages have been supportive. AP