Let's All Hold Hands Now, Class

"We tried to talk it over, but the words got in the way."

The lyrics from a sappy hit of yesteryear.

But appropriate for so much of what passes for public discourse these days.

An SFU egghead waxes large and loud about a teacher who refused to give her grade 3 kids a test.

He calls her a revolutionary hero. He says the teacher was defending these poor little victims from "psychological & educational vandalism."

He tells a graduating class that this woman's "character, conviction and willingness to act" should be "an inspiration to you."

All beautifully said. All politically correct.

All completely wrong.

We are tested every day.

But we mustn't give the little kids any tests, god forbid, because it might cause them some stress.

We pass kids from one grade to another who cannot read or write or compute.

But we don't want to test them.

You know why?

Because the test scores might reveal what lousy and ineffective teachers we are.