One of the hotbeds of opt out in New York was centered on Long Island, which consists of Nassau County and Suffolk County. Fully half of the students eligible for state tests did not take the tests. Reporter Jaime Franchi surveys the movement and asks, “what’s next?”
A year ago, parents were battling a combative Governor Cuomo, facing a hostile State Education Department, and rallying against Common Core. But what a difference a year makes. Now the Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, Betty Rosa, is an experienced educator who is sympathetic to the parents who opt out.
And the movement has larger goals:
The struggle came to a head during this spring’s testing season, culminating in a giant win for Long Island Opt-Out, a parent-led group that organized an historic number of test-refusals this year with almost 100,000 students—more than half of the student population in Nassau and Suffolk counties—opting out of state tests. Their message has been effective: No more Common Core. Despite incremental fixes promised by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his so-called “Common Core Task Force,” they are still demanding concrete changes.
Yet, it remains to be seen how this evolving protest movement will improve or replace the current education agenda.
According to local public education advocates, the answer is multi-tiered. It includes elections: first at the state level and then at the local school board in an effort to tackle education policy from all sides. The goal is a shift away from schools’ increasing test-prep focus almost exclusively on math and reading skills—eschewing the arts and play-based learning—to a comprehensive curriculum that addresses what some advocates call the “whole child.”
The opt out leaders have been shrewd. They have elected nearly 100 of their members to local school boards. They threw their support behind a candidate for the State Senate and he eked out a narrow victory. They regularly schedule meetings with their representatives in Albany.
Opt out leaders want a sweeping change in education policy, from scripted lessons and high-stakes testing to child-centered classrooms, where children are really put first, not test scores.
Finally down to “brass tacks,” at least in some communities. Now those communities can put their energy into formulating what public schools should teach to prepare the next generation to create and prosper in a more just and joyful world.
A long way from that goal
Welcome news.
A minor quibble: I would rewrite the last part of the last sentence which reads “where children are really put first, not test scores” to “where children are really put first, not self-serving adult lobbyists and investors wedded to ROI on high-stakes standardized testing.”
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The New York Opt-Out group is smart. They realize the power of numbers, and they have organized to lobby for public education. Parents in other states should watch and learn. Unless parents unite, they have no power. We have seen minority parents lose public schools in city after city because they presented no threat to “reformers.” “Reform” is not going to stop at the city limits. Buoyed by hedge fund money, they will continue to expand to new markets. The one thing that frightens politicians the most is the fear of losing an election, their power and access to the gravy train. Organized citizens have that type of clout. “United we stand; divided we fall.”
We can only hope that more communities–and, ultimately, states–will follow this example. Standardized tests have been around long enough for parents to see their negative effects in the classroom and at home. At its best, education is building a personal relationship with knowledge, skills, and the people around you. Metaphorically speaking, “learning is not climbing someone else’s ladder, but weaving your own web from the bits and pieces of value you pick up along the road of life.”
There are several phases yet to come about.
First, a teacher awakening. A realization that this reform, like many before, is not necessarily finite. Sooner or later … and it is late now … this professional class will realize that these reforms have tidal power few imagined. Already there are teachers in some circumstances who are shocked at the speed of these changes. Others … in more favored circumstances … still feel as though they are nicely harbored. They are not. This reform has fuel … lots and lots of fuel.
Second, there is exasperation setting in across the resistance. They’ve followed the conventional and the unconventional … and their victories have been slender and not as frequent as many would like. Many feel as if they are in a whirlpool of blather from the Governor and from legislators. An avalanche fo double-speak and outright double crossing.
This frustration … glued together with increasing anger … will vent itself in some powerful way. The politeness of these past efforts may soon end. Look for the radical to become more favored. And look for the evaporating patience to be replaced with more aggressiveness.