Long Island, Néw York, is indeed the epicenter of opt out. The numbers are coming in, and they are historic. Never before have so many parents withheld their children from state testing to protest the overuse and misuse of testing.
The Long Island Press continues to be the best source of information for LI activism, and its reporter Jaime Franchi continues to provide excellent coverage (by contrast, the Néw York Times had not a single word about the statewide and national opt outs, but a front-page story about the Atlanta educators who were sentenced to jail). The corporate-owned Newsday has a larger circulation but has been consistently hostile to teachers and opting out. This is odd because the populous island that is mostly suburban has some of the best public schools in the state.
Franchi writes:
“With day one of three controversial Common Core ELA (English Language Arts) examinations for grades three through eight completed in New York State, the total score of students refusing to take the tests continues to rise exponentially.
“Compiled by Jeanette Deutermann, founder of anti-Common Core Facebook group “Long Island Opt Out” and a founding member of New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), a coalition of 50 parent and teacher organizations who oppose the standardized tests, Long Island school officials—including Board of Education members, administrators and educators, she says—are reporting an astounding number of test refusals.
“As of press time, her preliminary unofficial count from more than half the 124 school districts on Long Island had already tallied more than 62,000 students opting out—more than last year’s total figure for the entire state and double the 30,000 students from across Long Island who refused the tests last year—according to a Google Drive spreadsheet on Long Island Opt Out’s Facebook page. Comsewogue School District, home base of vocal public education advocates including Dr. Joe Rella, its superintendent, and Beth Dimino, an eighth grade science teacher and president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, who stood as a “conscientious objector” earlier this year and vowed to refuse to administer Common Core exams to students, saw 82 percent of their eligible students refuse the test–a new record for that district.
“Sisi Wong Townson, co-president of the Plainedge Middle School PTA, reports that a record-shattering 74 percent of Plainedge students opted out of the test yesterday, including an entire third-grade class. A vocal opponent of high-stakes standardized testing, she testified against Common Core before New York State legislators two years ago drawing upon her personal experience as a student in Hong Kong.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Go Long Island!
Inspirational!
“PARCC and test provider Pearson are trying to trim the time of their Common Core tests by combining the two waves of testing into one.
PARCC officials told Ohio’s Senate Testing Advisory Committee on Testing Wednesday night that they are working on a proposal to combine their “Performance Based Assessments,” which are given earlier in the year, with their “End Of Year” exams given near the end of the school year.
Jeff Nellhaus, chief of assessment for PARCC, said officials recognize that parents and schools are upset with the number of hours that PARCC needs for both rounds of tests.
“We’re seriously looking at this,” Nellhaus said. “This isn’t a bunch of happy talk. We have heard what you all are saying.”
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/04/parcc_may_dump_its_two-part_co.html
hmmm… PARCC is on the defensive… go opt out team!
I think they’re just going to run into trouble with parents again, though, because the initial round of Common Core testing may be expanded to include other assessments.
Their own marketing materials state that there will “eventually” be Common Core assessments used “during the school year”.
I just think they should give us the whole picture, the whole plan. I get that it’s politically expedient to parcel out information like this, but in my opinion that approach probably comes back to bite them because people will feel they were misled as to the extent of this.
How complete is this “assessment system”? To what extent do they plan to rely on it “during the school year”? Is it 3-12 or actually planned as K-12 and they’re just phasing it in? What is the “listening” assessment and when does that kick in?
Chiara –
My guess is they want to set it up like MAP testing – thus, several times a year… but this is only a guess!
“A PARCCollapse”
The writing’s on the wall
The Common Core will fall
The standard test
Is under stress
And PARCC is in a stall
Today I am so proud to be a New Yorker: loud, proud, and willing to talk back.
The NYTimes? Feh, I’ve been reading it since elementary school and it’s irreplaceable. But don’t expect anything like a grassroots or labor perspective in the NYTimes, unless it’s framed as something like “culture” or “lifestyle” reporting.
“. . . and it’s irreplaceable.”
Love the smell of sarcasm in the morning!
Lived 60 years now without reading the NYT and am all the better for not reading it.
“(by contrast, the Néw York Times had not a single word about the statewide and national opt outs, but a front-page story about the Atlanta educators who were sentenced to jail”
YEP!, Attempt to control the discourse, have to keep the “bad teacher” meme alive as long as possible. Deflect the important truths in order to reinforce the edudeformers’ falsehoods. NYT = PRAVDA*!!
*Soviet era
Purposeful omission of important news in order to toe the official line has become the preferred method of the so-called “liberal media”. That way they don’t actually have to lie (although they do their fair share of that too, of course, eg, on Iraq)
The NY TImes and NPR have raised this to an art form.
This is terrific news, Diane. TY for this.
The people who read and post on this blog continue to amaze me with their insights, courage, and morality.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé.
I think the PR firms that are handling the propaganda war for the corporate education reformers is going to get their contract cancelled as the reformster fraudsters look for another firm with a better idea to fool people. Maybe they’ll come up with an ad similar to “Milk has Something for Everybody”
For instance, “Standardized tests equal success for every child.”
or
“Without Common Core, there is no American Dream.”
On televisions across the country, parents and children will watch happy families laughing and flying kites in a park or on a beach as their Common Core limousine awaits to drive them a few blocks to their beach side mansion with its own private dock and yacht. At the end of the commercial, Pearson’s logo will float across the screen boasting of another dream achieved through standardized testing. In the background there will be a homeless family with several children living in cardboard boxes. As the commercial fades out, the last message will say, “This is what happens when you Opt Out of our tests to success.”
Jaime Franchi is a rare reporter of character and I greatly admire her work. The Long Island Press is a free online paper, and they clearly spell out their sponsors with great transparency. This talented journalist has been following the side of testing and common core not presented in mainstream media, and I commend her for her courage and integrity. I hope the paper only grows and expands their daily coverage, as I’d love to see Newsday have major competition on Long Island! I couldn’t be prouder of Long Island parents for standing up for their children!.
Now that teachers are being put into ‘The Matrix’ I was wondering if Andrew Cuomo is supposed to be Agent Smith or The Architect? Any ideas? Where’s Neo?
It seems to me that Cuomo and Tische have been shown to be INEFFECTUAL for two straight years and must be fired!