Well, it is insubordination. I agree with the teachers, but they should be prepared to face the consequences for standing up for what they believe in.

On the other hand, maybe it's superintendent firing season once again.

Paul Apostle? Srsly?!

Who's in the staff directory under "I" [eye]?

Go teachers!

What would be the logistics of simultaneously suspending hundreds of school teachers for ten days?

Blah, blah, blah, BECAUSE I SAID SO, blah, blah...

@6 That's why I hope those teachers stick to their guns so the administration can find out.

I got my ballot today, and just mailed in my two NO votes.

The superintendent has two problems here.

First, he doesn't have the high ground. He can try to say "They should communicate their concerns in the appropriate way" but they did that. For years. The district leadership refused to even meet with them. So that dodge isn't available to them.

Second, the teachers are right. The MAP test - which may well have value for other teachers or students - does not have any value for the ninth graders at Garfield. It's simply an undeniable fact.

The superintendent had two clear choices:

1) He could have ignored the boycott and met with the teachers. In that case the whole issue would have just faded from the headlines, it would not have received national press attention or all of these letters of support. The he could conduct his staged "review" of assessments, found the MAP inappropriate for 9th graders, and the whole issue would return to obscurity.

He didn't do that. He chose option 2:

2) He acts all tough and authoritarian, threatens the teachers with discipline, makes bigger headlines, attracts support for their cause from all around the district and the nation, riles up the teachers just before labor negotiations start, and paints himself into a corner on the staged "review". Now the review has to show that the MAP has value - regardless of the facts - or the superintendent put in the position of disciplining teachers for being right. He has politicized the "review". Since no rational process can reach that conclusion, but he has to reach it to save face, he has to reach an irrational conclusion.

This is just going to get uglier because he didn't show leadership - just authority.

@Charlie Mas: Well said!