"This guy was far over the line in a lot of the ways he was running his classroom," said Department of Education spokesman David Cantor. "He was pulled because he was inappropriate with the kids. He was giving them messages that were inappropriate."

Several students defended Avella. They say he had made social studies an exciting subject for them.

"Now they've taken away the teacher we love only a few weeks before our real state exam for social studies," Tatiana Nelson said. "How does that help us?"

Read between the lines: the teacher was "inappropriate" because he taught students critical thinking and those same students had the gall to act on their beliefs and against school policy.

Sounds to me like the guy deserves a raise: he turned sheep back into students.

In our post-No Child Left Behind world, standardized tests are indeed a burden on both students and teachers.  And what good have standardized tests done any of us??

I ask the professionals in this world: did standardized tests really have any benefit on your true education?