Jake Bogdanovich, an Ohio senior randomly chosen to take a standardized test to gauge his district's progress toward meeting the goals of a school reform program, decided to engage in a little sabotage. As he observed, no "scholarship opportunities" were connected to the test, nor would its outcome be reflected on his report card. So he drew tic-tac-toes on the answer form, sketched a character from the cartoon "South Park," had an ostentatious coughing fit, and generally acted like a jerk. For his pains, he was suspended for three days, lost his position working in the school office, and jeopardized his National Honor Society membership. We suspect that testing opponents will look to Bogdanovich as a great example of speaking truth to power (one listserv was alight this week with tributes to Bogdanovich's courage). We're not so sure they ought to hang their ideological hat on a 17-year-old's tantrum. We rather agree with the lad's mother, who told the Beacon Journal, "His wings are going to be clipped a little."
"Star student gets F for attitude," by Stephanie Warsmith, Akron Beacon Journal, February 7, 2004