Advertisement
Middle school teacher David Wasserman said district officials told him he will get a letter of reprimand in his personnel file for insubordination. And they warned he would be fired if he carried out another protest, he said.
Wasserman sat in the teacher’s lounge on Tuesday rather than give his students the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam. Other teachers gave his students the exam, which is used to measure progress under No Child Left Behind. Schools that fail to meet their goals under the law are considered failing and can face sanctions.
Like many teachers, Wasserman said he believes the tests are a poor way to judge students and are used to unfairly punish schools. So he decided to be a “conscientious objector” after years of frustration.
He was planning to resume his protest on Thursday, the second day of testing. But he showed up to his classroom during the test after he was warned he could lose his job. He let two other teachers oversee the test for 30 eighth-grade students while he sat at his desk for 90 minutes.
“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 — and that’s apparently all the effort the district is seeking.
District spokesman Ken Syke said Wasserman fulfilled his required duties on Thursday and “administered the test.” He said the district would not comment on any discipline given to Wasserman, who teaches at Sennett Middle School.
FairTest, a national group that opposes the overuse of standardized tests, said it was unaware of any other similar actions by teachers protesting No Child Left Behind.
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.
Superintendent Art Rainwater issued a statement late Wednesday warning Wasserman to give the test or face discipline, including possible termination.
Wasserman said teachers and parents bombarded him with phone calls and e-mail messages on Thursday after news of his protest spread across the country. He said some critics have falsely accused him of not caring about his students but the vast majority of messages have been supportive.
“I’m getting messages from all over the country from teachers, parents, adults that remember testing or who are doing testing now and have anxiety with these kinds of tests,” he said. “It’s been a flood of support.”
Even his students were aware of the protest. He said he told them and their parents to feel free to ask him questions about his actions after school.
“That’s not appropriate during the school day,” he said.
