Sam Gorman, a junior at Burbank High School, started an opt out movement that was joined by 40% of the students in his class. He demonstrates the power of a single individual to make a difference. I happily add him to this blog’s honor roll for his intelligence and leadership.
“Students began taking state standardized exams in Burbank earlier this month, but about 40% of Burbank High’s junior class chose to opt out of the process, according to Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill.
“There were 269 out of 656 juniors at Burbank High who opted out of taking the exam after getting a parent to sign off on the request.
“For Burbank High student Sam Gorman, the choice to opt out signifies his stance against a test that is based on “big data and redundant standards instead of the acquisition of long-lasting knowledge,” he said in an email.
“He learned he could skip the exam last summer in Switzerland, where he attended a student leader summit hosted by Education First, an international company that runs study-abroad programs.
“Working with progressive education experts like Sir Ken Robinson and Nikhil Goyal helped open my eyes to the exciting possibilities of an educational system that treats students more like the individuals they are and less like the raw data they’ve become,” he said.
“The state exam tests students on California State Standards, which until recently were called Common Core standards.
“The computerized exam made its debut in California two years ago. It replaced the STAR exam, which students took by filling in bubbles on paper tests that asked multiple-choice questions.
“The new computerized exam tests students in math and language arts and is used by educators to gauge high school juniors’ preparedness for college. Students in third through eighth grades are also tested to give educators insight into their grasp of state standards.
“Sam wrote about Common Core testing on his website, YoungchangeBestchange.org, and then in mid-March, he tweeted a link that explained how students could opt out.
“Juniors needed to make the request in a letter, provide a parent’s signature and date, and submit it to their school principal.
“It was around mid-March, still a few weeks before testing began on April 7, when junior Daniel Park was asked by a classmate if he would opt out.
“People everywhere were just asking, ‘Are you opting out?'” he recalled by phone this week.
“Daniel is a college-bound student who is enrolled in five AP classes — U.S. history, English, calculous, psychology and physics.”
Daniel opted out, along with 40% of his class.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wonderful! And the LA Times reported too. I needed some good news this morning.
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There is a very big irony in all of the Reformer talk about the need to teach “critical thinking”.
Clearly, many high school students already know how to think critically and they are precisely the ones who won’t go along blindly with Common Core, testing and the rest.
“Common Core Inspires Critical
Thinking”
The Common Core
Inspires critiques
And many more
Than old techniques
Inspires critiques
Of Common Core
Of VAMmy geeks
And Coleman lore
Of reading close
And standard test
Reformer boast
And all the rest
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Well, now, I think you’re misunderstanding. Kids need to be taught to think critically *the right way*. If they were thinking critically the right way, they’d understand how important these tests are. In fact, they would understand that everything they are told to do is good and wise and wonderful.
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I believe that is called “hypocritical thinking”, something reformers excel at:
“Hypocritical Thinking” (aka the “Hypocritic Oath”)
The Hypocritic Oath
Is taken by Reformen
And certifies their growth
To hypocriti-Coremen:
“
The PARCC and Common Core
Are really something nice
But my kids must endure
A Core-less sacrifice
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Great way to start the California day…kudos to both Sam and Daniel, and their brave inner-directed student cohorts who opted out.
And to have this happen during the reign of the their new Supt. Matt Hill, who left LAUSD under a cloud, as a Broad/Deasy guy who was in a lead role with the various costly debacles, it truly a miracle.
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You mean this Matt Hill?
Lori Adams, BTA President sent the following email out to all BUSD union personal on Monday after the announcement of the new Superintendent.
In brief, Matt Hill has never been a teacher, principal, or even worked at a school site. He has no curriculum or HR experience. Matt Hill played a significant role in the iPad and MiSiS scandals in LAUSD. For the past 10 years, his salary has been paid for by the Broad Foundation, which is responsible for turning public schools into charter schools.
Sounds perfectly qualified. . .
. . . for perhaps a custodial position. (and my apologizes to all the hard working custodians in our school who do a whale of a job day in and day out. You’d have to train this Hill cat quite intensively)
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Yes, Duane, exactly the same Matt Hill, who was hired by Burbank School District shortly after his departure from LAUSD…which was a shock to many of us. But concurrently Boston hired his brother in arms from the Broad Brigade…and now seems to be suffering from that decision (Christine often reports the Boston news at this site). Eli’s cash wields far too much power nationwide.
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Thanks for the opening, Ellen!
In today’s news, due to a FOIA request from the Boston parents’ group QUEST, the $660,000 McKinsey study poked its head out into the sunshine. In the usual McKinsey fashion the recommendations are: “close schools, sell buildings”. They counted square footage, including hallways, bathrooms, and gyms, divided by the number of students assigned to the school and declared excess seats galore – 36,000 of them.
Here’s the parents’ post:
Here’s reaction in the press from a well respected minority community newspaper:
http://baystatebanner.com/news/2016/apr/29/parent-activists-blast-bps-report/
Here’s a link to the faux study:
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In LA, most people, my teaching colleagues and especially my administrators included, live in the dark. The media spread an impermeable rheeform blanket of propaganda that sits thick over our city like the smog we breathe every day. This heroic student had to go all the way to Switzerland to learn about his rights! Let this be the beginning of an LA enlightenment. We must “shine a light on the problem.”
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Great imagery to help explain how clueless our district remains: the rheeform blanket of smoke screens sits very, very thick.
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Yes, dear Leftie…many teachers have reported that their administrators threatened them with immediate dismissal, read that as ‘teacher jail’, if they even mentioned ‘opt out’ to their students and parents.
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It’s happening in California! And it’s the students who are leading the effort. In this link, we hear from Los Angeles students whose principal told teachers to withhold college letters of recommendation to students who opted out.
Maybe this is turning out to be a better civics lesson than they will get in the now narrowed curriculum of Math & English only. http://citywatchla.com/index.php/the-la-beat/10981-forget-the-presidential-race-these-students-are-getting-politically-engaged-in-issues-at-school
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So this is where we see how much the rheephorm-minded believe in the power of their ideas.
Telling teachers to withhold letters of rec? Classic bullying behavior. When you can’t get engagement because you’ve convinced people, you abuse the authority of your position and resort to compliance and (at least the threat of) punishment.
Also note the cowardly behavior by the admin that wants the teachers to do her/his dirty work.
For shame!
Thank you for the info and the link.
😎
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Karen, you know that citywatchla.com article gets me very excited and pleased. Indeed, thank you kindly for sharing the info and link. This is very good news for public school students and teachers on the West Side! I would have never imagined OptOut could happen here. Amazing. You’ve shown me. I see the light!
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I find it amazing that principals DARE to forbid teachers to do work for which they are not paid. I could fund a $12 million website to oppose the reformsters if I had been paid a minimum wage for all the time I spent writing college recommendations for my students during the 22 years I taught high school.
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I just came back to thi post and realized I blithely ignored the plight of the students being bullied by the principal. My apologies, well, hopefully better late than never.
You know, if my principal told me to withhold letters of rec, I’d ask for it in writing and notify the union. It is the responsibility of soldiers and civilians to refuse immoral orders and overthrow the officer who issues them.
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THANKS, Diane! Love it. Hooray for Daniel and those other students.
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If I was told my kid wasn’t getting a letter of rec because of refusing a test I’d lawyer up faster than you can turn on a light switch.
Of course many would not have that option.
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“. . . faster than you can turn on a light switch.”
Unless the ‘you’ is Cool Papa Bell.
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Awesome intelligent future leaders of the free world!
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