Submitted by Maria Escalante, Jan 17, 2008 08:50

Mr. Pondiscio's suggestion to have parents keep their children home on the day of the test is a powerful and responsible way to send a message to Bloomberg and Klein who are responsible for the massive amount of testing that they have imposed on NYC students. Parents of all socio economic levels should do this as a way to gain control of their children's public education. It's hard to justify being submissive and just going along with this charade of so called "improvement". After 32 years working with mostly inner city students in East Harlem, Queens and the South Bronx I'm appalled at what is passing for "reform and improved school instruction". Testing and preparing for tests is cruel and unusual punishment if that activity is what eats up most of the school day. Why is the public being so passive? Would you let public officials feed your children junk food all day? Of course not! Well, testing is the educational equivalent of junk food.

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