When nine-year-old Tyler Stoken took the standardized Washington Assessment of Student Learning test, he came upon a question he couldn't answer. Tyler said the question was, "You look out one day at school and see your principal flying by a window. In several paragraphs write what happens next." Young master Stoken couldn't answer the question because, he says, he "couldn't think of what to write the essay without making fun of the principal."

What happened next is surely enough to eliminate this admirable amount of respect Tyler had for the authority figure at his school. His principle went flying-- not past a window, but off the handle. The principal suspended Tyler for 5 days, writing to his mother, "The fact that Tyler chose to simply refuse to work on the WASL after many reasonable requests is none other than blatant defiance and insubordination." Answer the question, or else! Obey! Obey!!

But the principal was just concerned about Tyler's educational wellbeing, right? Maybe. It's a fact that by not answering the question, Tyler lowered his score on the test, which in turn lowered the school's overall performance on the test. With the emphasis on test scores in public schools, it's just possible the principal was simply being selfish because this might make his school look bad and reflect poorly on him.

Aberdeen school superintendent Marty Kay telephoned Tyler's mother, Amy Wolfe, to apologize. He said, "I think a mistake was made and over reacting to Tyler's refusal to complete the test." Just a bit. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but when I was in school, there wasn't anybody holding a gun to my head forcing me to fill in every last bubble on the sheet. Failure to answer meant nothing more than failure to get credit for the question. Furthermore, nobody was looking over my shoulder to see that I answered every question to begin with. Some of those opposed to WASL reportedly believe that this conduct actually violates the law.

Wolfe is now part of the growing anti-WASL movement in Washington state.

---Nick

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