New York State Allies for Public Education has led the successful opt out movement in their state for years. As much as 20% of all eligible students have refused the annual tests in most years, in some schools and districts, a majority of students don’t take the test.
They reacted angrily to the news that the Biden administration plans to require annual testing after Joe Biden publicly promised not to.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2021More information contact:Lisa Rudley (917) 414-9190; nys.allies@gmail.com
Jeanette Deutermann (516) 902-9228; nys.allies@gmail.com
NYS Allies for Public Education – NYSAPE
The Biden Administration Fails to Put Children First; NYSAPE Urges Parents to Opt Out
In a recent letter released by Ian Rosenblum, Acting Secretary of Education and former Executive Director of the reformer organization Education Trust NY, the USDOE and the Biden Administration have signaled that testing waivers submitted by the states will be denied this year. Although the ESSA accountability measures will be granted waivers, the insistence on forging ahead with ESSA-mandated student assessments completely ignores the damaging impact that administering state assessments in the midst of a pandemic will have on our children.
Unfortunately, the Biden Administration believes that traumatized children, including those who have yet to set foot in their school buildings since last March, will be best served preparing for and taking standardized tests, even though this will only add to the stress they are already experiencing.
However, parents are not without recourse. New York State parents can, and will, exercise their right to refuse to allow their children to participate in the grades 3-8 state assessments. NYSAPE’s New York State Test Opt Out parent letter can be found here.
NYSAPE applauds the New York State Education Department (NYSED) for announcing “Regents Exams would not be required to meet graduation requirements and to cancel any Regents Exam that is not required by USDOE”.
NYSAPE now calls on the New York State Board of Regents and the New York State Education Department to take immediate action to demand any and all flexibility on ESSA regulations, and provide clear guidance to school districts that they must inform parents of their right to opt out of the state assessments and prohibit any mixed messaging to coerce parents otherwise.
NYSED led by Commissioner Betty Rosa & the Board of Regents are leading the way in putting our children’s needs first.
NYSAPE is a grassroots coalition with over 70 parent and educator groups across the state.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Joe Burden?
The testing is a burden
When everyone is hurtin’
The call for tests from Biden
Is rank Deformer sidin’
Does anyone know which regents exams in June will have to be given, and which will be cancelled?
Might the insistence on testing this year (in some form…at some time…with no accountability necessary) be more an effort to ensure momentum doesn’t build to halt the tests forever?
Newton’s laws of testing
“A school at test, stays at test”
An opt out motion stays in motion
Unless acted on by a force
Great letter, NYSAPE — please spread to other states!
What REALLY needs to happen is for the national Teachers’ unions to come out with a VERY STRONG statement opposing the testing, along with a plan of action for national action to end it. It’s not OK for these unions to remain on the fence about this. It’s time for action. Otherwise, they are guilty of complicity in the testing abuse of our nation’s children.
It’s time.
It’s past time.
But then the union heads would not be welcome at the Rose Garden wine parties.
So it ain’t gonna happen.
The Weingarten
The wine is very nice
In garden , with some ice
And rubbing elbows too
I’d what I like to do
Is what I like to do
Los Angeles Unified agreed to work together with the teachers to reduce the number of standardized tests in an accord to end the strike two years ago. During the pandemic, however, L.A. Unified decided to add more standardized tests. Business interests control the bureaucracy.
So, the union organized. Teachers across the city held after school meetings with parents causing hundreds to call the district demanding the end of over-testing during the pandemic. As a result, the district agreed to recommit and engage with the testing task force to reduce over-assessment. It’s not the end of over-testing, but it’s a start.
I was pleased that a couple parents in my meeting asked about their opt out rights, giving me an opportunity to provide them with information. A few of my students’ parents opted out this year. In California, billionaires write laws, and it is illegal for me to encourage parents to opt out. I can only give information if asked. Imagine what I could have done if I taught in New York, for example, where it’s not illegal to encourage OptOut. Imagine if New York had a union like mine, willing to organize the teachers to fight back, to fight for justice.
I don’t understand how they can make it illegal for you to express an opinion on testing if you are giving it outside school on your own time.
That’s called free speech, but maybe you don’t have that in California.
Free surfing but no free speech.
Maybe the surfing isn’t even free any more.
I worked in Long Beach in the early 90s but haven’t been there in a long time.
I was there during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994 and even got a moles eye view of the trenches the USGS was digging.
It was weird. The night before the earthquake, a friend’s cat was acting very strange , looking up at the ceiling. I actually made a comment about it go my friend at the time.
And later that night, all hell — or at least all earth — broke loose.
I think Reed Hastings made that law. He’s a billionaire who has a particular problem with democracy in the first place. He wanted to get rid of elected school boards.
Magnificent!
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” –James Baldwin
It is time for the AFT and NEA to step up.
Testing to see if this goes into moderation: James Baldwin
Yes it did.
Some day, I hope the mere mention of SomeDAM Poet is worthy of WordPress moderation.
Then I will know I have arrived. I won”t know where I have arrived , but I will know I have arrived.
I take it they powers that be would not take kindly teachers posting this regulation prominently.
Finally, I agree with you, Bob. During this COVID year, just what do they expect to be revealed? Children need to be in school.–Why waste many, many hours of precious in-class hours doing these tests?
The testing is an absurd, extremely expensive boondoggle. A total waste of taxpayer money and of teachers’ and children’s time.
“In a Tuesday virtual news conference, school groups called on the Republican-led legislature to work together with Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to release roughly $1.6 billion in federal education money meant to help students recover learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, which includes districts in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, and St. Clair counties, said “Michigan students will pay the price” if lawmakers don’t release federal funds soon.
Dr. Randy Liepa, superintendent of Michigan’s Wayne Regional Education Service Agency (RESA), said the schools only have 15 months to spend those federal funds currently held up in the State Capitol. He called on lawmakers to release those funds so schools can pursue renovations such as new ventilation systems and hiring summer school teachers and staff.”
They’re denying public schools covid funding because they’re using the issue to attack their political enemies.
Neat trick, huh? Refuse to release the funds schools need for covid mitigation WHILE conducting a national campaign to bash public schools for not opening.
It’s all bad faith. Why would anyone trust these people on testing or anything else?
https://www.thecentersquare.com/michigan/schools-call-on-michigan-lawmakers-to-release-education-funding-quickly-with-no-strings-attached/article_d1bb3598-7097-11eb-8568-4b0ba71eca64.html
If ed reformers genuinely want public schools to handle Covid, perhaps they could use their incredible lobbying clout and connections in government to get state legislatures to RELEASE the Covid funding the federal government has already allocated.
Or, they could continue to do what they’re doing, which is lobby for standardized testing mandates and push thru massive voucher schemes.
Unless it’s more important to the “movement” to bash public schools than actually do something practical and useful and relevant that might actually ASSIST a public school.
Their priorities are interesting, I must say.
For me, Biden has to show that he is not going to allow Gates and Walton and Broad and the other ed reform lobbying groups to continue to run US public education as they have been doing for the last 20 years. I’m looking at the people he’s hiring and they ALL come out of this ed reform, echo chamber pipeline.
If I wanted the ed reform lobby to run public schools I would have elected them. We’ve been following the Jeb Bush Plan for public education through the last three Presidents. It’s time to allow someone outside this echo chamber to weigh in.
I think he has already shown us that he is going to allow Gates, Waltons and others to run education.
How many times does Lucy have to pull the football before Charlie Brown gets the clue?