Fox News reported that an eighth grade student was suspended in New Mexico for telling her classmates about their right to opt out. She found the forms for opting out on her own school’s website. The Santa Fe school district reiterated that students have the right to opt out. Yet she was suspended for doing what everyone seemed to agree was legal and right. For her common sense and courage, I place Adelina Silva on the blog’s honor roll. Not only did she do the right thing, she said she would do it again.
12-year-old Adelina Silva printed out the forms from her own school’s website and was rewarded with a trip to the principal’s office.
Adelina and her mother, Jacqueline Ellvinger, appeared on “Fox and Friends” this morning to explain what happened and why Adelina was punished.
“I wanted the parents to know that they had the option to let the student either take the test or not,” Adelina said.
“I was sent to the principal’s office for an hour and 20 minutes and then at the end of the day she ended up suspending me.”
The school district released a statement, saying, “Santa Fe Public Schools supports a parent’s right to opt his or her child out of state-mandated standardized testing … no students in the district have been disciplined for supporting or promoting this district policy of a parent’s right to opt their child out of testing.”
Ellvinger said her daughter’s rights were violated even though she didn’t do anything wrong.
“She did absolutely nothing wrong and yet they are making her feel like she did,” Ellvinger said, adding that she’s “furious” and has spoken to the state’s senators.
Despite the negative reaction from the school, Adelina said she would do the same thing again.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Concerned parents should picket the administrative offices with signs advising parents to refuse to allow their children to take the tests. They should call the TV stations before they protest.
I’ve heard enough kids explain these situations by leaving out some key information. Her answer sounds like that. Possibly, yes she was suspended solely for passing out the papers in a reasonable and non-disruptive manner.
However, we may never know the actual reason for her suspension and it is worth considering she was suspended for the WAY she passed them out: jumping up in the middle of class throwing the papers around screaming inappropriate things? Or being grossly insubordinate or disrespectful to the principal when discussing the matter.
We all have the right to ask for a raise, but if we do it while calling the boss a cheap jerk, we should not be surprised if we lose our job.
“. . . it is worth considering she was suspended for the WAY she passed them out: jumping up in the middle of class throwing the papers around screaming inappropriate things? Or being grossly insubordinate or disrespectful to the principal when discussing the matter.”
Oh, those oh so sensitive principals, der widdle feelins hurt by a student.
You gotta keep those 12 year olds in line.
nip it in the bud
Otherwise, all hell is likely to break loose and the first thing you know, students will be occupying the cafeteria demanding better lunches.
Apparently, the parent was not informed of any such “disruptive” behavior. While I can imagine how some eighth grade girls might react (eye rolls and dramatic sighs), these are hardly behaviors meriting suspension. As many a teacher has been told upon removing a student from class, the student didn’t have the problem; it was the teacher’s poor class management skills. Perhaps we should apply the same standards to the administrators.
Had your rather absurd scenario occurred, I’m sure we’d have heard all about it by now. This was nothing more than a knee jerk response to a child questioning authority, incompetent authority, by spreading their own message. Now, I must thank those who jumped the shark by suspending this kid for their assistance in promoting the opt out movement and spreading the message to a much wider audience.
Thank you, Jon Lubar. As some of us learned in the 1960s and early 70s, every act of official repression helped build the resistance by spreading the message.
I’m a retired teacher who lives in Indiana and I support your actions Adelina Silva. You have shown a tremendous amount of courage to stand up for students who have the right to opt out of testing. Too often people in power lack compassion and understanding.
Secretary of Education Skandera probably cannot spell compassion much less understand what it truly means.
I agree with carolmalaysia.
It is interesting to see that in a school system that is committed to transparency and the common good a student is reprimanded for alerting other students and their parents about their rights within schools. Today, there seems to be less and less student rights in the classroom. Students are subject to frequent locker searches as well as other sorts of infringement on the privacy rights of students. What the rights of students in the classroom? Where are they stated?
Most of these free speech court cases I have seen find that the individual has the right to speak, but the person must accept the consequences of the action. In other words, if the district has some type of disruption policy, they may decide that the student has violated that policy.
Not a fan of Fox News, but this sounds like a First Amendment case to me! Students do have some civil rights.
“Students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse door.” Tinker vs. Des Moines
Exactly. Thanks Threatened!
I would not be surprised if there isn’t something come out Sec of Ed Skandera’s office about this student doing what she illegally and Constitutionally has the right to do. There have been threats originating from Skandera as to what negative negative can happen to Students, Teachers, and Schools if parents opt out their children from the PARCC. Parents are taking the opt out way regardless of the threats from Skandera or the local school districts. There have been student marches across the State of New Mexico against the PARCC. A march was held in front of the Public Education Department but Skandera refused to come out and talked to the Students. The School District will probably hear some negative words from Skandera. You can count on that happening. I totally support what this Student did for her fellow Students.
My 11 year old son does this on weekends at his bowling league. Parents ask me if he is telling the truth about opting out. I assure them he is being truthful. I also point out that school will be effectively closed for nearly two months for this SBAC heist of our school time. I live in one county and teach in the one next door. I can advocate for my son and agitate at the same time. I am, therefore, just a parent causing schools in Nevada a problem
Thank you Old Teacher.
I wonder if Rupert Murdock will have the team that reported this fired or demoted. How did this news get past Murdock’s neoconservative censors?
They probably thought New Mexico was a foreign country. Many people do.
Yes, that explains it. LOL
But I have to admit, I didn’t think Fox news had the brains to even know the difference between a city, county, state, country or planet. They might even think the world is still flat and is the center of the universe.
Of course, they have an excuse. They can claim they all went to public schools, and it’s the teacher’s fault they didn’t take the time to learn what was taught.
It’s not???
NM =Newly built Mexico.
People who want to opt out of testing should be given vouchers so that they can attend private schools of their choice.
I’ll take one for $50,000 per year, thanks!
In addition, having a voucher is not a guarantee that the child will get into the school the parents want for their child.
For instance, Lakeside School, where Bill Gates’s children go and where he went when he was a child, does not guarantee that every child who has the money and applies will be accepted.
http://www.lakesideschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=120813
In addition, Lakeside Tuition for the 2014-15 school year is almost $30,000—three times what the state spends for children attending public schools. Although Lakeside School offers need-based tuition aid, again this is decided on a student by student basis—not every student who applies for this aid will get it.
In fact, “Families who apply for financial aid should know that both the admissions and the financial aid committees make decisions independently. For many families, applying for financial aid is just another step in the process of applying to independent schools. Please use the links on the right to assist in your understanding of financial aid at Lakeside.”
Any ignorant person who thinks vouchers or corporate Charters that select students by lottery is a magic pill that will automatically take any child who wants in and improve a child’s education should look at this map where we discover that public school system spending per pupil for Washington state, where Lakeside School is located, is between $8k-10k annually.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/05/23/heres-how-much-each-state-spends-on-public-school-students/
Click on the link and look at the map and discover that there are not that many states spending above $16k annually per student in the public schools—most of the states are below $10k.
What’s really interesting is this statement from Lakeside School—that reads like a form of segregation to me:
“Students who don’t receive an admit or alternate pool decision may be frustrated but should note that the admission committee’s decision is based not just on the individual but on the applicant group as a whole. In fact, our internal evaluation system tells us that almost 2/3rds of the applicants to Lakeside would thrive at the school. It is the committee’s difficult job to assess a student’s academic potential and the overall fit in the community.”
Conclusion: if your individual profile doesn’t fit the group profile, then you don’t get in.
And WT, correct me if I’m wrong, implied in another snarky comment that the students who walked out in New Mexico were vigilantes.
Really?
There is a vast difference in the definition of vigilantes versus civil disobedience.
For any readers here who are not sure of the definitions of those two terms, here they are:
> A vigilante is a person who is not a police officer but who tries to catch and punish criminals.
> Civil Disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.
I also question if what they did was really civil disobedience because those who are informed know that the Common Core Standardized Rank and Yank agenda to fire teachers, fail children and close public schools is not driven by the democratic process of our republic but by the financial support of a few billionaire oligarchs such as Bill Gates, the Walton family, The Koch brothels, Eli Broad and a few others.
Even Arne Duncan was not elected to his position by the people. He was appointed.
Is it civil disobedience when you protest the actions of a few billionaires and their puppets that includes a few puppet politicians who wouldn’t have won their posts without the massive campaign contributions of the same oligarchs who are funding the war against the transparent, non profit, democratic public schools to replace them with often corrupt, fraudulent, opaque, inferior, profit driven corporate Charters?
And what does the country get with some of these corporate Charters? Let’s look at the corporate Charter chain with its more than 1,600 schools that are controlled/owned by the Walton family.
Charter school leader defends creationism in schools’ curriculum
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2014/01/19/charter-school-leader-defends-creationism-in-schools-curriculum
http://walmart1percent.org/issues/education/
Without the tansparent, non–profit, Democratic public schools, anyone can teach anything to our children.
Case in Point
Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas
“Some of the schools’ operators and founders, and many of their suppliers, are followers of Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic Turkish preacher of a moderate brand of Islam whose devotees have built a worldwide religious, social and nationalistic movement in his name. Gulen followers have been involved in starting similar schools around the country — there are about 120 in all, mostly in urban centers in 25 states, one of the largest collections of charter schools in America.”
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2014/01/19/charter-school-leader-defends-creationism-in-schools-curriculum
Once the transparency is gone;
once the democratically elected school boards are gone;
once the non-profit status is gone,
and once the professional standards of teacher training and certification is gone,
who will then be teaching our children and what will they be teaching them?
Wait, no, I need two. Thanks!
Vouchers won’t do a lot of students much good. If a student has a special physical, mental, emotional, or educational need private schools don’t have to admit them. Remember private schools don’t have to follow the same rules as public schools. If a student come from an economically disadvantaged home and the family cannot make up the difference between the actual tuition/transportation costs and the voucher then the private schools do not admit the student. Remember a public school are required by law to admit any student that walks up to its door and asks to enter.
Vouchers for private schools do not work for every student but every student is welcome in every public school regardless of the student’s special needs or economic status. Which is better, a system that will at least try to help all students learn and be successful or a system, such as vouchers, that only help those students that meet the narrow minded criteria of the private schools?
Your choice.
Choice for what? Eating voucher meat? Not sure it’s money’s worth.
WOW, great job young lady, you did the right thing. Parents refuse these tests for your kids. Here in NY we know how damaging these tests seem to be to the kids, so much stress for the kids for NO reason. Little ones wetting themselves in class, vomiting, and much more. Kids have test prep more than real learning time in school and we must stop this insane testing and common core. Get local control back in your schools before it is to late. God bless the child.