A mother writes this story of harassment by school officials:
“My daughter, who is in the 11th grade, was victimized by her principal and teacher today because she submitted an opt out letter. She was made to feel wrong and unsupportive of her school because she wasn’t going to take the test.
“She is currently her class president, a link-crew mentor to younger students, tour leader, sports team member and future ASB president… that makes her the face of the school… or so says her teacher and principal. She has certain responsibilities to live up to, one of which is to take the test. Because, well, as they told her, the API score affects home prices.
“They even went as far as to say that what was doing was thinking only of herself… not of the greater community at large. They wanted to know if she was going to grow up and not vote because, well… because she doesn’t want to – even if it affects the city, the county, the state, the nation… and yes, the world. They said that – to a 17 year old. An impressionable young lady who has logged 53 volunteer ASB hours for March, and 30+ for each of Jan and February. And that is just 2013… she’s been arriving to school an hour early every day of high school. This is where she wants to be, this is what is important to her… to support her school.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The same exact thing is happening to my son as well. I’ve asked him to write about his experience which I’ll share on my blog.
This is the e-mail I sent to the Fairfield-Suisun Superintendent and his principal this morning as well. This emphasis on testing started in 3rd grade & because of his teacher then, he experienced extreme anxiety. I can’t believe we are facing almost the same experience now that he is in 11th grade.
Hello Ms. Cottingim-Dias,
Approximately three weeks ago, I notified Mr. Tretten that our son would be opting out of the CST’s. This decision was not made lightly and came about after many lengthy discussions between our son, my husband and myself. We believe that the CSTs are not valid indicators of what our son has learned. We also believe and trust Clayton’s teachers to be able to best assess him and tell us where he is at academically as it is part of their job to do ongoing assessments throughout the school year. We further believe that the emphasis on testing and the pressure that is placed on teachers is taking away valuable learning time, something that has brought frustration to Clayton who has told me that he sees firsthand the pressure and stress his teachers experience during testing time.
Last week, it was brought to my attention that one of his teachers chose to target him in class. I am still trying to contact this teacher so that I can hear her version of the events. Unfortunately, she has still failed to contact me. Today, in yet another example of targeting our son, my husband received a phone call from Cindy in the Attendance Office at Armijo. She told my husband that our son could not be on school grounds during the testing time. When I tried to talk to Cindy, she referred me to Ms. Marley who would not address my concern, but instead referred me to the testing coordinator, Ms. Whitworth. This person was not available to talk to me, so I have yet to speak to anyone about why our son could not be there today. He was there yesterday and nothing was said. So, I’m not sure what changed from yesterday, when apparently it was okay for him to be on school grounds for testing to today when all of a sudden it is not okay.
When our son was in 3rd grade, he went to KI Jones. We ended up having to pull him out of school there because of the bullying behavior we witnessed by some of his teachers and the administrative staff. This bullying caused him to suffer extreme anxiety for which cost him a good half a year of learning. This school district is very lucky that my husband and I merely chose to withdraw him and find a school that was willing to work with him – a school in Vallejo with teachers who cared more about his emotional well-being in conjunction with his learning, something he clearly did not experience at KI Jones. It now seems like he is being bullied again by those he should be able to trust, his teachers and administrators.
I am hopeful that someone will assure me that any bullying and intimidation that is taking place in regards to the CST’s will cease immediately and that our concerns will be addressed.
Thank you for your consideration.
Cottingim-Dias was a bully when she worked in Sacramento City Unified. I understand she’s retiring and groomed her replacement, Kris Corey. Better write to her, too.
I am a member of a growing Opt-Out facebook group, and have read MULTIPLE stories of administration bullying, harassing and intimidating children as well as parents on a daily basis for weeks due to their exercising their right to refuse the assessment testing. My 13 year old daughter is one of them.
The only thing I can say to all those parents is that you’ve raised and nurtured some incredible kids. To all those students who are willing to stand up and speak their mind: I applaud you. You’ve learned a life-long lesson.
As for those teachers and admins- you’ve lost your way. I only hope you can regain it and the respect you once had from your students.
These are exactly why we posted what we did in our EdWeek blog today. Educators are in a precarious position but the most important work to be done is to honor all opinions, maintain open and honest relationships and protect the children from the differing positions on this issue. We can not allow this to become us against them. Legislation and regulation have placed us in this position. Do not allow relationships to be broken, children to be caught in the middle. The least we can do is take care of the important relationships between schools and students and parents. That is what is important here.
So what will you do with a student or family who submits a request to opt out? Where will they go during testing? How will they be treated?
It is becoming more common to see bullying in so many forms. The US has become a “comply or die” kind of place. That sounds extreme, but I feel we are being asked to play the game dictated by angry white rich guys and their followers. By die I mean “in spirit”.
This bullying has always taken place. Any time those in power can disregard someone as unworthy or uncooperative, they will begin bullying. And, look at how this has come down!! The proponents of public education Re bullied by dollars to comply with changes they can’t convey, but in order to get a rating, no matter how absurd and invalid it may be, they bully those beneath them, and it is passed down.
Strange how the invisible hand of the corporate privateers continues to use “data” of choice to manipulate education to a lower level in the name of improving upon it.
Absolutely! I’m seeing it more and more… the “trickle-down effect” of the “do or die” mentality DOES get to the children! Because the policies are being ruled by the “almighty dollar,” the effect becomes EVERYONE is dehumanized… and of course, it leaks down to the children. School officials can “talk a good game” about putting the kids first… but when the teachers are stressed about it, the children WILL feel the effects… there’s only so much that human beings can contain (even teachers!!!). I’ve watched this “accountability” culture change people from caring to driven… NOT the kind of change that we should strive for when it comes to our kids. Our first priority should ALWAYS be humanity… and it’s true, many have lost their way.
Yours are the students the districts need so badly when everything is riding on these tests. It’s all so disingenuous.
Here in Hillsborough County Florida it is worse. It extends to teachers. Even in private life, it a teacher questions testing (FCAT) in private converstaions, … Admin will attack. It is very sad…
Oh, yes. Teachers are instructed not to voice any opinions that aren’t supportive of whatever is going on.
1984 “Newspeak” – no dissenting language allowed.
Driving a wedge between families and schools is so advantageous to the corporate reformers that I cannot help but suspect that it is a deliberate strategy.
Correct again. It is deliberate. Each level keeps preserving its reason to exist. It results in coercion. When you are subject to being insubordinate, you comply. When you speak out, you are seen as a threat and no longer a “player” in preserving the structure that is projected. I think it may just collapse upon itself.
I PRAY that it collapses upon itself! It’s a destructive structure.
I commend this young lady.Since she is the face of the school, there is no one better to show the community at large what this awful trend is doing to real learning. Perhaps the school officials wouldn’t be so abusive if she were at the bottom of her class instead of the top. She should stick to her guns and remind those folks who would try to intimidate her, that not only has she given of herself to the school for the betterment of the students and the school itself, but that the lessons she learned from studying the history of this nation and that are the foundation of this great country, are the right and the obligation of the individual to speak up against tyranny and injustice. It is that important. Mom, you raised a good kid. Don’t back down.
I surely agree. If the students who are the real victims of this mess speak up, it will resonate much more than when the teachers do. The PTP can throw it back in teachers’ faces.
This is, to me, about intimidation. Sometimes there are needs to take charge, but in this case, the results is going to be a very negative outcome for our country. The students have to stand up for their own futures.
Correction: Sometimes there is a need to take charge, but in this case, the result is going to be a very negative outcome for our country.
Survivor: “face to face, out in the heat.. .hangin’ tough stayin’ hungry
They stack the odds still we take to the street
. . . with the skill to survive. . .”
That principal has committed child abuse.
Good for her for taking a stand against tests that undermine learning and take away valuable class time. The word “victimized” is a bit strong, though.
No, “victimized” is not a “bit strong”. If anything it isn’t strong enough. The abuse heaped upon the students by both teachers and administrators in just administering this test is abmonible and UNETHICAL. The abuse heaped upon the teachers in the process is palpable and that filters down to the students for a double whammy. Add to that the time lost to “true” teaching and learning and one has a trifecta of abuse that most certainly does harm students who, properly, should be described as “victimized” as they have no say (except for a few very brave ones who opt out, usually in the upper grades) in what is happening to them.
Just calling a spade a spade!
For the last three years of high school, I always felt that my son was working for them, rather than the other way around. That our real estate values, school rankings, and now teacher rankings, depend on the work of children is child abuse. Child labor in the worst circumstances.
With the number of homeschoolers and private schools, even charter schools, real estate values have little to do with test scores. Homeschoolers, in my area, don’t need to be in a certain school system to buy a $250,000 home. And, those non-test takers are driving up home prices in older neighborhoods, where families want front porches and a sense of community. In my area of the world, houses sell dependent upon property features, proximity to churches, hospitals, etc. The other factor is crime! Any teacher or administrator who bullies a child over test scores, needs to be fired!
Check out what the Syracuse City School District did to a 9 year old. Makes me sooo proud.
Gee whiz, maybe we ought to modify the pledge of allegiance to include a phrase:
“and to the test of the glorious motherland”
I guess she just needs to get the whole damned community behind her then. Sounds like she’s got what it takes to lead the way. This Gulf-War Era veteran sees this young lady as not only a leader, but as a hero for standing up for my six-year-old hear in Wisconsin with what she is doing. Thank you!
Boy I wish we could edit our posts after we post them…”here” not “hear” Sorry folks
So, an 11th grader is responsible for the real estate values in her community?
Wow, that one shocks even me, and I thought I was was too jaded by my years of observing and fighting these people to be shocked anymore.
On the other hand, while this administrative bullying is indicative of the fear that is being intentionally fanned by the so-called reformers, it also points to the fundamental weakness of their position: as the opt-out movement grows – and it will, exponentially – their lies will be exposed and their house of cards will collapse.
It’s sad that the teacher’s unions could have stopped this vicious nonsense, and didn’t, but fortunately we still have brave young people and parents who will stand up to these soulless Mammon worshippers.
Michael,
I look forward to you posts because you give me hope. I am a fan! Please keep posting.
Wow, Linda, it’s been a long time since anyone accused me of giving them hope.
In my school, I’m known as “Mr. Sunshine.”
Thanks, though.
I think you are great and if it makes you feel better I am negative and I know too much.
“That won’t happen here”….even though it already is……I work with ostriches who choose to be clueless.
For years I’ve been describing the standardized testing regime as “A Potemkin village made with houses of cards built on a foundation of ever shifting sand”.
You made a good point. Why didn’t the unions stop this vicious nonsense on testing? Why didn’t they explain to parents what was in store?
Carrie,
I’m not familiar with the nuances of the NEA’s response to so-called education reform, but as a NYC public school teacher, I’ve observed Randi Weingarten and had to work under her sell-out contracts and dealings for years.
Having done so, I can confidently say that she has not opposed – occasional sound bites meant to inoculate her in the eyes of the membership notwithstanding – so-called reforms because, as her collaboration with and receipt of funds and accolades from the likes of
Gates and Broad attest, she is one of Them.
What can one say? Idiots exist in every profession. I think the young lady learned a valuable lesson from this, but not the one her teacher and principal intended. A textbook case of emotional blackmail (how can you do this to me? Are you crazy? How can you have so little gratitude? How can you not care? How can you be so selfish?, etc)
Fire her/him.
Honestly, as a teacher and as a parent, I wish the family would contact a lawyer. I don’t know if they have any legal grounds or not, but even a cease and desist letter might wake some people up.
You can bet that if she didn’t stand a good chance of passing the test with a great score, no one would have cared if she opted out.
the principal and teacher are in need of an attitude adjustment
Administrators, and that includes principals, are the worst bullies. They do it to employees, parents, teachers and community members constantly and nothing happens to them. This is going to stop. Please help us at LAUSD elect Ratliff to the LAUSD Board of Education. We need your help nationally. What do you think will happen if we have a 4-3 vote of angels instead of the present 4-3 vote of the devils. I cannot put it clearer. Deasy is gone. Retribution is gone. Fraud starts to disappear. The corporate privatizers and turned upside down. Please help elect Monica Ratliff. Website-www.monicaratliff2013.com and the email is monicaratliff2013@gmail.com. Help us turn around LAUSD and get rid of the corporate privatizers and hedge funds in the district with more charters, 260, than anyone. This all can really stop.
LAUSD High School has a problem with the Principal allowing teachers, students, students parents and coaches to bully, humiliate and singleout students that they don’t care for. Have had numerous conversations with the Principal. There is no resolve, always excuses. Have even gone to the District level. Was advised that those that are in charge will not be reprimanded due to the fact that District school board member is from the same city, as are the offenders. They are like a thicket of bugs……..needing to be collected and sent on their way, without credentials to work with young people.