Florida superintendent Pam Stewart sent a stern message to every district:
“We all know there have been questions about opt out and that there were situations where this occurred last year. Section 1008.22, F.S., regarding statewide, standardized assessments, states clearly that participation is mandatory for all districts and all students attending public schools. My belief is that students that do not want to test should not be sitting in public schools, as it is mandatory and required for students seeking a standard high school diploma. Statewide, standardized assessments are part of requirement to attend school, like immunization records. That is our message and what we send to you to be shared with your staff.”
Opting out of state tests is not allowed. Taking the standardized tests is mandatory. Parents have no right to refuse the tests for their child.
Remember that Florida is the state where a dying boy with severe disabilities was expected to take the test. His parents had to present proof that he was in hospice to the state.
The test was more important than his life.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wow, is this superintendent dim-witted or what? Guess what the response will be?
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Yes she is.
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It is ironic that Florida should adopt such a hard line on testing. This is the same state that promotes numerous worthless options masquerading as “education.” Florida has a generous home school policy. When I go shopping, I often run into the home schoolers walking around the mall with mom on a school day. Florida allows families to sign their children up for any number of unvetted alternatives to public education including a variety of virtual academies and harebrained charters. Along with Ohio, Florida offers very little oversight or accountability for charters in which there is a lot of waste and fraud. Florida only seems to raise its iron fist when it comes to public schools.
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I am one of those homeschool moms you see at the mall with her child. I got tired of the testing BS in the public schools so I pulled my child. It only takes him about 2 hours to complete what he used to do all day on school. So now we have the rest of the day to go out and enjoy life instead of stressing over a standardized test. Life is much better now. This is our 4th year homeschooling.
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“My belief is that students that do not want to test should not be sitting in public schools”
That says it all.
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I guess they should all go to charters, then.
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One test proves NOTHING!!!!(Especially if it is developmentally inappropriate -based on inappropriate Common Core Standards-and scores are manipulated-waste of teaching time.)
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They should get the unconstitutional vouchers for religious schools that Florida offers, and then they can go to school and never take another high-stakes test again, nor be accountable to the State of Florida in any way.
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Students who do not want to sit for the tests should not be in public schools?! So she disavows any responsibility to educate them? That is a hanging chad of reason.
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Cueing SDP!
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What SDP? We’re outta here. Never heard of em.
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Some Damn Poet to continue your thought of “hanging chad of reason” in a poetic fashion.
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Aside from her gaseous prose (“My belief is” instead of “I believe”), I really like the soft touch here. What a respectful woman!
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Nothing new here. Just another Florida official trying to ensure that the state maintains it’s lead in the yearly “Stupidest State Contest”.
But there should be no worries in that regard.
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The statute referenced has this to say:
“Participation in the assessment program is mandatory for all school districts and all students attending public schools, including adult students seeking a standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as otherwise provided by law. If a student does not participate in the assessment program, the school district must notify the student’s parent and provide the parent with information regarding the implications of such nonparticipation.”
So, yes, the law does mandate participation. But it does not, as far as I can tell (I only skimmed most of it) give any consequence for failure to participate other than “notifying the parents”. So parents should just tell their kids to opt out and when the school calls, just say, “yes, I know.”.
Here’s the full statute: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=1000-1099/1008/Sections/1008.22.html
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“In order to earn a standard high school diploma, a student who has not earned a passing score on the grade 10 Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade 10 ELA assessment must earn a passing score on the assessment retake or earn a concordant score as authorized under subsection (8).”
“A statewide, standardized EOC assessment must be used as the final cumulative examination for its associated course. No additional final assessment may be administered in a course with a statewide, standardized EOC assessment. A district-required local assessment may be used as the final cumulative examination for its associated course in accordance with the school district’s policy.”
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Is the Grade 10 Test doable or is it outrageous? How many dropouts leave school due to failing this assessment.
And what about the Grade 3 exam? If it’s like the CC assessments we give the third graders in NYS about 70% of the students would be retained.
That’s one way to get parents to flee the public schools and either home school their kids or find alternative education. GED anyone?
I wonder what the stats are for such “drop outs”?
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Students can get away with not taking the tests except for those currently in 10th or 3rd grade. These grade levels are grades in which a students promotion to the next grade level are dependent on test scores. They don’t call it Floriduh for nothing. Students in any grades except for 3rd and 10th grades can absolutely opt out. Pam Stewart can go kick rocks as her opinions are absolutely incorrect on the matter as usual.
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I just opted my child out of 4th grade writing FSA yesterday. They don’t make it easy in Manatee county. The kids have to refuse themselves; they do not accept a parental letter stating non-participation for their child. Some FL counties allow kids to read quietly once they opt out. Manatee district mandates a sit-and-stare policy for 120 minutes. Parents have been picking up their kids 20 min into test time and bringing them back after test window. It is absolutely unconscionable what Pam Stewart says and does to FL schoolkids, parents and teachers. Opt out is growing in FL.
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Florida is also the state that elected Jeb Bush governor (two times!)
There must be something in the water (besides sharks)
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If a parent has no say on policies affecting their kids, they need to change the policies or sue and show how the policy negatively affects their child’s and their own civil rights.
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I was told by a union source that a whole lot of lawsuits have actually been filed against our district — but these suits are very purposefully kept in the shadows to be quietly settled or held at bay with delaying tactics. Would anything change if journalists could be led to digging in and exposing this as truth? (In district after district?)
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I’d be interested to hear more. If the issue is testing the suit would typically not be filed against the school district but against the state.
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More Dean Wormer bluster.
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If I were a Florida parent, I’d organize a protest. All students take the test. And leave it blank.
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That’s exactly how our kids opt out. They sit for the test. They open the test. They push it away. They are done. Once they have opened the test, they cannot be re-tested. Test security has been compromised. They have now “participated in testing, as required by law. No law can compel a child to complete the test. And they have provided NO data.
Since this communication was sent, our numbers have swelled. Again. Pam Stewart… the one-woman Opt Out Fertilizer.
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And what is the repercussions of opting out? A fine? Jail time? Expulsion? Repeating the grade? Refusing the child a diploma?
Isn’t there a law that requires the state to provide a public education? Can the state legally penalize a child (or their parents) for refusing to take a particular test?
Parents do have a right to refuse immunizations for their children on religious grounds. So, too, they should be able to opt out on moral grounds.
If this Governor pushes too hard, many parents might push back – at the polls.
The message is starting to spread and the rheformers should be afraid that the end of their world is in sight.
Boycotting an oppressive, worthless set of exams is a good place to start.
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I wonder if there is a connection between global warming deniers—often fools that are influenced by Koch Brother funded propaganda—and the avarice and fraud of the corporate charter chain movement. If so, then eventually much of Florida will be literately underwater along with many of the schools and cities they are in.
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We must have a viable alternative to the testing fiasco or public schools will perish
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I wonder if it takes moolah to get a public official stand up and say really stupid things, or if they are actually willing to make really asinine pronouncements all on their own.
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TAGO.
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Paula Drew is fighting to exempt her daughter that is non verbal. One BOE member in Orlando is now running for Senate. We must return common sense to our schools.
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FYI the BOE member running for Senate is Rick Roach and is against this form of standardized testing. It would be a huge win for education.
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This is state sponsored child abuse–and the parents are paying the price.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20160228/ARTICLE/160229651/0/search
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That’s sick. So what will they do to kids who refuse to take the test? Suspend them? Expell them? What if parents keep their kids home on test days? Will the police be sent out? I live in Minnesota and I’m opting my 3rd grader out this year because the tests don’t help his teachers to teach him. They are invalid wastes of time. My son does not need the stress. I’d rather keep him home and take him to a museum on test day.
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Without the testing they have nothing. The whole Jeb! Bush school grades idiocy, the continuation of the worse parts of NCLB and RttT, the attempts to destroy the state constitutionally protected unions, the profiteering of legislators (including the Speaker of the House, who is a charter profiteer, as are many others) all fall part without the FSA scores.
Opt out scares the hell out of them.
Good.
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And Marco is a JEB clone.
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We have been ignoring #PamisaBully for some time now. We don’t need her permission. Opt Out.
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What makes this law/regulation any different then IDEA 2004 that is not enforced and school district staff openly lie to parents and don’t comply. School staff and Florida DOE employees pick and chose what law/regulations they will comply with so parents and students should do the same thing.
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Pam Stewart should resign in shame. She does not even understand how many constitutional rights she is advocating to violate with these ill thought through statements. “Little thought” basically sums up every decision she has ever made for public education. We need someone with intellect. She is better served as a prison guard.
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Opt out! Who the hell is this superintendent to tell you want you can and can not do for you child? What authority does she have? If you believe the test is detrimental to your child’s well being, then tell her to go to hell and opt out! Is she going to arrest you? Is she going to sue you? Is she going to somehow ban your child from coming to school? No! She is going to tell you your child won’t be promoted or won’t graduate! So? There are other options out there – charters, homeschooling, digital/virtual. Tell her to go to hell and do what you believe is right for your child!
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So..if my child is in 3rd grade and has an A/B average can they legally retain her? Above comment says that 3rd &10th grade are mandatory..I don’t want my child to be subject to these ridiculous test, however I do not want her to fail either!?!
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This superintendent I believe was reprimanded by a judge in Sept for lying. And was told to stop doing it immediately. You may opt out of testing. Its the law.
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I opted out of an ELA (English Language) today for my child. The testing proctor met with me personally. She was very nice and professional. However the explanation she gave me was very disturbing. “95% of enrolled need to test in order to remain an A school”, “remaining an A school increases the property value”, “losing the A school status decreases the property value of area homes”, “taking the test or receiving an NR2 has no effect on the student’s transcript or grades”. I think I stood their with a deer-in-the-headlights look! What?! My children have been testing all these years so that your school status remains high? My children have been testing all these years so that the county property values increase? MY CHILDREN have been under pressure, coerced, basically bullied and given no other option to taking these standarized tests that have NO effect, NO purpose other than county and school funding? I am definitely peeved at this point!!! This has got to stop and we need to make others aware of what the kids are being subjected to.
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I’ve known this for a while. So I tell my grandson every year not to worry about the test. It isn’t about him at all, it is about the school and the teachers and just do your best, but don’t worry about it. Since he is not my child, I can’t make decisions for him. I can only help him to see it in perspective. My son, who is still a minor, has been homeschooled for years now because I just could not deal with the PS craziness anymore. After 26 years between my and my girls’ time in the Broward School System and with him showing signs of a gifted intellect and outside the box needs. I Just Could Not Do It . . . Best decision I’ve ever made.
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