Nicholas Tampio, a professor at Fordham University, explains why his children will not take the state tests.
“Our family is refusing the Common Core state tests in the spring. We refuse the tests because they weaken local control of the schools, pressure teachers to use a flawed pedagogy and facilitate a collection of data that may harm teachers and students….
“To be clear, we see a valuable role for the federal government and disapprove of certain educational policies adopted by states in the past. But that is no reason to abandon America’s historical commitment to the principle of local control of schools. Educators and parents in our district have more knowledge of, and investment in, our students than do foundations or the federal government.
“Our Westchester school district has been thriving—with the vast majority of graduates going to four-year colleges, including some of the finest in the country. It makes no sense for our district’s students to be guinea pigs in a poorly conceived experiment….”
“To be clear, we see a valuable role for the federal government and disapprove of certain educational policies adopted by states in the past. But that is no reason to abandon America’s historical commitment to the principle of local control of schools. Educators and parents in our district have more knowledge of, and investment in, our students than do foundations or the federal government.
Our Westchester school district has been thriving—with the vast majority of graduates going to four-year colleges, including some of the finest in the country. It makes no sense for our district’s students to be guinea pigs in a poorly conceived experiment.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
From Assessmentgroup.org (Feb. 18, 2014) “ASG published a report on the costs of machine scoring of student essays (funded by the Hewlett Foundation) …Machine scoring holds tremendous promise…for cost affordability to…consortia of states.” (And, nations?)
ASG also received a grant from the Gates Foundation.
“Affordability” translates to enrichment of the tech industry.
I prefer my education dollars spent locally.
Are the deformers’ kids essays, scored electronically? Unlikely, the private schools of the rich, reject high-stakes testing.
It makes no sense for the children of low-income parents “to be guinea pigs in a poorly conceived experiment,” either.
I fully agree, Linda.
Thank you, Linda!
When I started teaching at Johns Hopkins as a graduate student, the dean told us not to give standardized tests.
It is absurd to believe that any standardized test–PARCC, SBAC, or whatever “next generation” test they invent–will prepare students for selective colleges.
I was curious if parents who are opting out of testing in the spring are also opting out of the interim testing this month.
My sister lives in Westchester County. The wealthiest county in the US. If you don’t think that has an effect on the success of your personal story, you aren’t aware of the bigger fight. Mr. Tampio, write a piece about how the level of poverty so many children face in the US affects their academic performance and how these tests will label and limit them. Keep in mind that many of our schools are not thriving as yours are. I write this as a public school teacher who has worked in Title I schools for my entire career of 32 years. I admire your passion and agree with your argument, but you make it on behalf of a very few. Make it bigger and help make a change.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to clarify a point, Linda and Cyn.
I wrote this piece based upon my experience as a New York parent in a good school district. According to surveys, most Americans give the local school district a good grade (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/11/myth-charter-schools/). I hope that my piece resonates with other parents who think that the Common Core has harmed good schools. So far, based upon early feedback, that seems to be the case.
But what about children in, say, Title I schools? In another op-ed, Yohuru Williams and I argued that the Common Core harms such schools: by draining budgets, narrowing the curriculum, and disempowering parents and teachers in the school district. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/27250-common-core-betrays-the-civil-rights-movement?tsk=adminpreview
To stop the Common Core, we need to form coalitions of many factions.