The school committee of Tantasqua, Massachusetts, voted to permit parents to opt their children out of the PARCC tests.
In doing so, Tantasqua joins the school committees of Worcester and Norfolk, which reached the same decision.
The state department of education has opposed opting out, but the school committees are not following orders.
The Tantasqua vote was close, 8-7, and the deciding vote was cast by the chair of the committee, Michael J. Valanzola.
He said:
“It reaches the point of exhaustion, relative to the mandates from the state. Every time you turn around, there are new requirements on our school district but no money to back them up,” Mr. Valanzola said after the meeting. “And, for me, this sends a message that we are tired of the mandates and, ultimately, we are a School Choice district that believes in choice. Choice should rest with the parents and their right to be engaged in the process.”
On Feb. 11, the Norfolk School Committee sent the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education a letter saying it would let parents decide for their children whether they will participate in the PARCC test. On March 6, the Worcester School Committee agreed to send a letter to the state similar to Norfolk’s.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
awesome
Let freedom ring.
Please let this be only the beginning.
“Choice should rest with the parents and their right to be engaged in the process.”
Yes. The choice rhetoric is meaningless if it suppresses this dimension.
Just wondering if Arne Duncan is trying to get back on the “offense” by touring potential spots that are likely to counter “Ed Reform”. At his talk at the Teaching and Learning Conference he had just visited Worcester, MA …. So our ed secretary wastes precious dollars traveling around the nation PR his program and to “patch up” potential “ed reform” weak spots preaching the false “gospel”! Ughh… Can we OPT OUT of Arne Duncan as Secretary of Ed PLEASE and address the real and true issues in ed that should be addressed????
It’s past time for Arnie to step down because of “personal reasons.”
Let’s hope for a domino effect. This is part of, not necessarily an “awakening”, but the discovery that we have been deceived. Thanks to the committee members for their leadership.
Opt out! Testing is not teaching. Testing is not learning.
Yes amazing! Glad to see this happening. Massachusetts is being a leader on this. Kudos!
I think one reason for this is Diane’s Blog educating (and her heavy lecture schedule around the country—this isn’t easy. Hopping from city to city sometimes on a daily basis is exhausting and takes a toll. I’ve seen what it does to my wife when she’s on a book tour.) the country/world about what’s going on. Without books like her “Reign of Error” and Blogs like hers spreading the real facts, democratically elected school boards wouldn’t have the info to make these decisions.