If you are a student, parent, teacher, administrator, or concerned citizen, who would like to share a personal story about damaging standardized testing practices, please send a comment using the contact section of this website, and we will post your story below.

Thanks for your concern,

Bill and Barb Durbin

We begin with an excerpt from Jonathan Carroll’s Facebook post, written on April 30, 2019, and explaining why he was resigning as a social studies teacher at Lake High School in Groveland, Florida. After listing a series of “toxic” problems that are destroying the profession he had always loved, Jonathan concludes with a focus on standardized testing:

I am tired of the constant testing. We have testing coordinators at each school. I am tired of being told that if a student fails it is my fault not theirs. I am tired of everyone else knowing better and being chastised if I dare ask questions or challenge leadership. So this May, I am walking away. I am going to stay home for a while (thank you Dana) and start a new chapter. Honestly, I’ll break even if I become a bank teller with no experience. But the truth is I will not miss what education has become. A soulless industrial education complex where admin cares more about the test scores than their faculty or students. I have loved teaching many of you. But it is time to ride into the sunset. Start enjoying life. And find happiness again.