The Common Ground in the Movement Against Excessive Testing

Since  The Badass Teachers Association was formed three and a half months ago, I have appeared on nearly ten local talk radio programs explaining the rise of the group, in states ranging from Colorado, to California to Florida, to Arizona (where i was interviewed yesterday) My hosts- and their audiences- have come from many points of the political spectrum- some Conservative, some Liberal, a few from the Left. Yet there were a few points I made that seemed to touch a chord with ALL my interviewers, and their listeners

1. There is far too much testing going on in our public schools, much of it as a result of federal mandates
2. There is too much scripting and micromanaging of teachers.
3. The testing and micromanaging is making kids hate school and teachers hate their jobs
4. A whole bunch of people are making money and/or promoting their political careers 
by supporting these destructive policies

These points of Common Ground are not insignificant. They provide the basis for a 
national movement of teachers, parents and students to push back the Test Machine.