Homeland Security

Connecticut, full of rich white people living next to Martha Stewart, right? Well, I have to defend my homeland after reading the latest on its fight against NCLB.
While Connecticut has the image of stoic wealth, I can vouch for the many towns outside of Farfield County that struggle with the very same issues that other states face. The Suits sometimes forget about reality. That a cohort group comes through with certain personalities, skills, attitudes should cause educators to understand the possibility for skewed statistics.
In the case of the latest test data, lobbyists believe that Connecticut's dislike for NCLB and all that goes with it creates a situation where "That kind of public opposition … is often interpreted by local educators as permission not to try."
Stop. Hold up. Is this lady (Kati Haycock, director of Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group) implying that because we as educators might have a professional opinion, we would simply quit? That pisses* me off.
Sure, you have an agenda, you are an advocate. Me, my agenda is to educate high school students. And believe me, not everything that is worth teaching can be tested on the Connecticut Mastery Test, or WASL in my case.
I have many mean things to say, believe me, but because this is print media, I will withhold. I guess it just needles me to think that Ms. Haycock, someone who is the director of anything to do with education, assumes that we as teachers will simply quit if we disagree with the policies of our school, district, state, or country. Ms. Haycock, belive me, I disagree with many beliefs that I am forced to promote, but I am NOT using it as permission to not try.

*Sorry Mom!, for the bad language.