Arne Duncan’s response to the many thousands of parents who are now opting out of state testing is typical of his past remarks about “white suburban moms” who are disappointed to learn that their children are not so brilliant after all, or teachers and parents who have been “lying” to their children by praising their mediocre school performance. He basically says they should get over it and do what the state and federal government tells them to do and stop coddling their children. He doesn’t coddle his children, why should they?

 

In an interview, he said that the federal government might have to step in if states have too many opt outs. Duncan has been touting the virtues of the Common Core and of the two tests that he funded—PARCC and SBAC–and he can’t understand why parents don’t want their children to take them.

 

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that the federal government is obligated to intervene if states fail to address the rising number of students who are boycotting mandated annual exams.
Duncan’s comments come as an “opt out” advocacy group in New York reports that more than 184,000 students statewide out of about 1.1 million eligible test takers refused to take last week’s English exams. In New York City, nearly 3,100 students out of about 420,000 test takers opted out, according to the group.

 

The number of opt outs in New York more than tripled over last year.

 

Those estimates suggesting that more than 15 percent of students refused to take the tests have raised questions about the consequences for districts. Federal law requires all students in grades three to eight to take annual tests, and officials have said districts could face sanctions if fewer than 95 percent of students participate. On Tuesday, when asked whether states with many test boycotters would face consequences, Duncan said he expected states to make sure districts get enough students take the tests.
“We think most states will do that,” Duncan said during a discussion at the Education Writers Association conference in Chicago. “If states don’t do that, then we have an obligation to step in.”
Duncan also said that students in some states are tested too much, and acknowledged that the exams are challenging for many students. But he argued that annual standardized exams are essential for tracking student progress and monitoring the score gap between different student groups.
He also said the tests are “just not a traumatic event” for his children, who attend public school in Virginia.
“It’s just part of most kids’ education growing up,” he said. “Sometimes the adults make a big deal and that creates some trauma for the kids.”