Archives for category: Opt Out
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Carol Burris: Who Is John King and Why Was His Tenure in New York So Stormy and Controversial?

By dianeravitch
February 22, 2016 //
26

Carol Burris, who is now the executive director of the Network for Public Education, spent decades as a teacher and an administrator. She retired last year as principal of South Side High School in Rockville Center, New York. She helped to ignite the “principals’ revolt” against the state’s adoption of a test-based teacher and principal evaluation system; she and another Long Island principal, Sean Feeney, drafted a letter of protest that was eventually signed by nearly 5,000 principals across the state, about 40% of the total.

 

In this post, Burris explains what happened during John King’s time as State Commissioner of Education in New York, and how he alienated parents, teachers, and administrators. King was recently nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education.

 

Listening to others–especially parents and teachers–is not his strong point. More than anyone else, Duncan managed to ignite the massive opt out movement in New York last spring. He deserves credit for getting parents so riled up that one of every five eligible students refused the state tests, that is, about 220,000 children in grades 3 through 8.

 

Based on his record in New York, Burris predicts that we can expect more of the same from the Department of Education…or worse.

Categories New York, Opt Out, Parents, Resistance, Teacher Evaluations, U.S. Department of Education

NY BATS on John King

By dianeravitch
February 15, 2016 //
29

The NY BATS. Are not happy about President Obama’s selection of John King as Secretary of Education. Say this for King. His arrogant indifference to parents set off the largest testing opt out in history. Maybe he can do the same for the nation.

BATS write:

“WE GOOFED BUT TRUST US TO FIX IT: Now headed for Senate confirmation hearings, Obama’s Acting Education Secretary John King admits in a new video that standardized testing has been harmful and wasteful, yet will continue federal tinkering to find a better balance between subjecting kids to non-stop testing hell and collecting data to improve instruction.

Reading stiffly from cue cards, King continues his “apology tour” after alienating teachers with corporate reform policies straight out of ALEC’s basement. Yet the Secretary continues to pretend outraged teacher and parent groups do not see right through to the heart of the problem – the corporate revolving door and the influence of money in politics.

Obama had always mailed in his education policy, straight from the boardrooms of Center for American Progress, the Gates Foundation and social engineers like Joanna Weiss. The policies were also favored by Wall Street and billionaires like the Waltons and Broads, yet were met with whimpers by the heads of the large teacher unions.

This untested market-based approach to changing schools exploded in opt-outs and gave Republicans an issue with great traction. Now Obama is backpedaling, but only in rhetoric as his actions only cement his commitment to upending classrooms through continuous, invasive measuring. His promises to help underperforming schools remain broken, as support for addressing actual learning obstacles flows instead into the hands of testing contractors and armies of consultants.

In essence, Obama is saying to America “yes we goofed” but let’s have a “fresh start”, beginning with the nomination of King, a darling of privatizers and dark money PACs that rain campaign cash onto your state legislators. This is not only tone-deaf and a thumb in the eye, it’s doubling down on corporate reform and federal centralization.

As a short-lived teacher and charter network director, King lacked the experience the education community was looking for, so his PR handlers instead launched an all-points media blitz based on his personal narrative, which credited NYC public schools for changing the trajectory of his life. Strange then, that he would pick a career in charter schools, which require pro-active completion of lottery applications, thereby leaving behind the most needy children whose parents are not as involved.

Today, the hope of students, parents and teachers across the political spectrum is that local control of schools can be restored by downsizing almost everything the megalithic USDOE does, abandoning NCLB’s federally mandated test requirements and concentrating on supporting the research-based recommendations of actual educators instead of mandating ham-handed “fixes” after meeting with lobbyists.

In short, Obama’s record on education is widely considered even “worse than Bush”, but the way forward now is no longer manufacturing fake crises and endlessly patching up failed (and unconstitutional) federal testing policies, it’s folding up shop and giving tax dollars back to districts so teachers can teach.”

Categories Common Core, Opt Out, Testing, U.S. Department of Education, VAM (value-added modeling)

John Merrow: Is Kenny Rogers a Supporter of Opt Out? Who Knew?

By dianeravitch
February 9, 2016 //
3

John Merrow reports on his blog that the official song of the national meeting of United Opt Out will be a well-known Kenny Rogers song, with some changes in the lyrics:

 

“YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO TEACH ‘EM…

KNOW WHEN TO TEST ‘EM…

KNOW WHEN TO STEP ASIDE AND JUST LET ‘EM LEARN.

THE STATE KEEPS SAYING “TEST ‘EM,”

BUT ALL THAT DOES IS MESS ‘EM.

SCHOOLS DO TOO MUCH TESTING!

LET’S MAKE LEARNING FUN AGAIN”

 

I think John has become a true partisan of the Opt Out movement. He cares about kids, he cares about education

Categories Opt Out

Fred LeBrun: The Opt Out Movement is Parents’ Most Powerful Tool Against Bad Education Policies

By dianeravitch
February 9, 2016 //
11

Fred LeBrun, a columnist for the Albany Times-Union, wrote a terrific column about the power of the parents who opted out.

 

Without the pressure they exerted, Governor Cuomo would never have appointed a commission to review the Common Core standards and testing.

 

Without the force of their numbers, the state education department would have proceeded to evaluate teachers by student test scores, despite the research proving its invalidity.

 

Opt Out parents caused Cuomo’s poll numbers to plummet, and that got his attention. Poll numbers can outweigh hedge fund cash.

 

Here is part of LeBrun’s perceptive column:

 

According to the latest Siena poll, education has jumped to the top of the list for what matters most to New Yorkers, ahead of jobs, taxes, and that perennial favorite, governmental corruption.

 
Granted, education is a wide umbrella covering higher and lower ed, funding, curricula, charter schools, and a lot more, plus the poll indicates the greatest concern for education is held by downstate Democrats.

 
They’ve got the numbers to dictate the poll. But at the least we can reliably say the poll affirms how important public education consistently remains for upstaters and downstaters alike.

 
When it’s that important to voters, it’s critical to politicians.

 
In the brash youth of his governorship, Andrew Cuomo confidently swaggered to war against teachers and the “educational bureaucracy,’’ which it turns out is mostly parents, by trying to impose a cockamamie Common Core system that brutally punished school children and a punitive and grossly unfair teacher evaluation system, all in the name of “reform.”

 
Washington, in the embrace of billionaire advocates of privatizing public education, applauded.

 
So did New York hedge-funders promoting charters.

 
The governor used all his cunning and considerable available resources to get his way, and even beat up the Legislature to become complicit.

 
Yet he got his ass handed to him. By whom? By the most potent force there is in public education, the public.

 
Cuomo’s poll numbers fell through the floor. In December, the governor sent up the white flag and sued for peace with a landmark Common Core review commission report that made 21 splendid, common sense recommendations to put New York public education back on track.

 
In his State of the State this year about all he had to say on the subject was urging the Board of Regents to pass all 21 recommendations.

 
That’s exactly what the Regents should do, and we have every high hope they will once two new progressive members of the 17-member Regents are appointed by the Legislature, and once the Regents leadership becomes more enlightened and attuned, which is also imminent.

 
There are several factors behind why the governor lost the war, including a change of heart in Washington, but high among them is the Opt Out movement that last spring kept 220,000 New York pupils from taking the state’s ridiculous standardized tests.

 
Opt Out has been the most powerful in-your-face, can’t-ignore referendum on the governor’s policies since he took office.

 
So here’s the irony of Opt Out for the governor, post-truce.

 
If there is another Opt Out uprising this spring, the popularity fallout will still be the governor’s to reap even though he has been forced to see the light and change course. In the public’s eye he remains the architect of that dismally failed model for public education.

 
It should come as no surprise that Opt Out is a very real possibility again this year.

 
That’s because there’s a Grand Canyon between the considerable rhetoric of change we’ve heard and the reality of where we actually stand with altering or eliminating high stakes testing and the Common Core, teacher evaluations, and inappropriate pressures on our youngest citizens.

Categories Accountability, Common Core, New York, Opt Out, Parents, Privatization, Testing

Tennessee Legislator and Wife Opt Their Child Out of State Testing

By dianeravitch
February 3, 2016 //
33

Rep. Mike Stewart and his wife Ruth decided to opt their child out of state testing. The MommaBears of Tennessee were overjoyed. Tennessee has no law permitting opt out. The MammaBears hope that the Stewart’s decision will make the voices of other parents heard by state officials.

 

 

This is the letter that Ruth Stewart sent to the school and made public:

 

 

Please accept this letter as a record of my decision to refuse for (name redacted for privacy) to participate in TN Ready/TnReady TCAP test and pretests at (school name redacted for privacy) for the remaining school year. My refusal to allow (child’s name) to participate is because I believe standardized high stakes testing take away time from the instructional experiences my child might otherwise receive. I want more teaching and learning, and less testing! I am aware that there is no “opt out” clause in the state of Tennessee. But the state has yet to provide any legal documentation that my child may not exercise his or her right to refuse the tests.

 

I understand that it is state and local policy to require all students to are to be evaluated for proficiency in various subject areas at each grade level. However, I believe that testing is not synonymous with standardized testing and request that the school and my child’s teacher(s) evaluate her progress using alternative measures including project-based assignments, teacher-made tests, portfolios, and performance-based assessments.

 

(Child’s name) is prepared to come to school every day during the testing window with alternative meaningful, self-directed learning activities that support the essential curriculum, or is willing to participate in other meaningful activities as determined by the school or her teachers during testing times. Please let me know beforehand what I can expect as far as instructional experiences (child’s name) will experience during testing windows. I am happy to develop material for her if the teachers believe this is appropriate. I have a tremendous respect for (child’s name)’s teachers and her school. My issue is with frequent high-stakes standardized testing and the harm it does to children, teachers, and our public schools.

 

 

Respectfully yours,
Ruth Stewart

Categories Opt Out, Tennessee, Testing

Jonathan Pelto: My Daughter Will Not Take the Test!

By dianeravitch
February 2, 2016 //
14

Jonathan Pelto, former legislator and current courageous blogger in Connecticut, says that his daughter will not take the SAT test required of all juniors.

In response to parental objections to the Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced Assessment, Connecticut dropped SBAC and replaced it with the Common Core-aligned SAT.

“Thanks to a contract signed by Governor Dannel Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Dianna R. Wentzell and approved by Malloy’s political appointees on the State Board of Education, Connecticut taxpayers will be shelling out in excess of $4.3 million in scarce public funds, over the next three years, to the College Board, the company that owns the SAT. In return, the College Board will allow students to take their NEW SAT — a test that has yet to be validated and has come under increasing criticism because, despite their claims, the SAT fails to adequately predict how students will do in college.

“This latest debacle started last spring when, in the face of growing opposition to the Common Core Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing scheme, the Connecticut General Assembly and Governor Malloy decided to replace the unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory 11th grade SBAC test with a new mandate that all high school juniors take what is likely to be an equally unfair, inappropriate and discriminatory NEW SAT.

“However, neither Governor Malloy, his Commissioner of Education nor the legislators had ever seen the NEW SAT that they are now trying to force 11th grader to take. They hadn’t seen it because the new version of the SAT isn’t even being released until March 2016.

“As the College Board website proclaims, students across the United States can take the NEW SAT for the first time on March 5, 2016 which means that Connecticut’s 40,000 juniors are truly little more than an initial round of guinea pigs for a testing company whose revenue is already in excess of $841 million a year….

“In my daughter’s case, of the dozen or so colleges that she is considering applying to, the majority DO NOT require an SAT test.

“For those schools that do require a standardized test score, my daughter will be taking the old version of the SAT on February 20, 2016. The last date for taking the old version of the SAT was supposed to be last week (January 23, 2016) but due to the snow storm on Saturday, the testing was postponed until the end of February….

“While she won’t be participating in the SAT test being “mandated” by the state of Connecticut, on March 2, 2016, if we determine that she should take the NEW SAT, then there are plenty of options to take the test in the spring, summer and fall, after the initial problems with the NEW SAT have been identified and resolved.

“What we won’t do is serve as pawns for the state of Connecticut’s attempt to collect standardized tests results so that they can unfairly evaluate teachers. Governor Malloy’s “education reform initiative” requires local school district to base 22.5 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on the standardized test results of their students.

“My daughter won’t be relegated to being a test subject for the College Board’s attempt to reclaim market share.

“Instead, we will do what is best for my daughter’s college aspirations – the state and its testing obsession be damned.”

Categories Connecticut, Opt Out, Resistance, Standardized Testing

Long Island Superintendent: Ignore the Threats, Students Do NOT Have to Take the State Tests

By dianeravitch
February 1, 2016 //
36

Michael Hynes, superintendent in Patchogue, New York, has been outspoken against the current wave of test-driven reform in New York State.

 

He posted the following comment:

 

 
What is Best for our Children

 

 

Many parents, educators and legislators are talking about the possibility of federal and state funds being withheld from schools. The fact is, hundreds of New York State public schools fell below the 95% participation rate for the 3-8 assessments last year. Here are some facts you should know before testing season begins this spring:

 

1. The Commissioner believes parents have the right to opt their children out of 3-8 state assessments.
2. The Governor stated that parents have the right to opt their children out of 3-8 state assessments.
3. The Governor stated the 3-8 assessments will not count for students and teachers for the next several years.
4. The 3-8 assessments this year are still a Pearson test.
5. The “new” 3-8 assessments are now “untimed” which means our children can actually take tests that will last for several hours over several days.
6. The assessments are still fundamentally age inappropriate and aligned with the Common Core standards. The Common Core Standards will no longer be in New York State. I repeat, they will no longer be in New York State.

 

 

There is absolutely no reason for any student to take the assessments until we have some true fundamental changes. I don’t believe making the tests a few questions shorter or allowing students to have an unlimited amount of time is the answer. This is not in the best interest of our students, especially our special education and ELL students.

 

 

 

 

Fear and misinformation is being spread by Newsday and other agencies that believe public schools are failing. This is not only unfair but unethical. School districts with high opt out rates should not be sanctioned by the State Education Department or the U.S. Department of Education. In fact, the school districts with the highest opt out rates should be rewarded. They should be rewarded because it exemplifies that we value our children. It yells from the rooftops that we are free from the burden of the Pearson crafted Common Core poisoned assessments which have zero value to anyone. Well, except for Pearson.

 

 

We need true leadership in our schoolhouses.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, New York, Opt Out, Testing

National PTA Opposes Parent Opt Out: UPDATE!

By dianeravitch
January 31, 2016 //
66

The National PTA adopted a resolution opposing parents’ decision to have their child opt out of state testing.

The resolution endorses the federal requirement of annual testing and says:

 

“National PTA does not support state and district policies that allow students to opt-out of state assessments that are designed to improve teaching and learning. While we recognize that parents are a child’s first teacher and respect the rights of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children, the association believes the consequences of nonparticipation in state assessments can have detrimental impacts on students and schools. Nonparticipation can result in a loss of funding, diminished resources and meaningful interventions for student subgroups, which would have a disparate impact on minorities and students with special needs and widen the achievement gap. Opting out also stalls innovation by inhibiting effective monitoring and improvement of programs, instructional strategies and exams, and could thwart transparency by providing incomplete data sets for states and schools.”

 

Di, despite 15 years of mandated testing, the National PTA still thinks that testing somehow promotes the best interests of the children in the bottom half if the bell curve, that testing narrows achievement gaps, and that testing promotes innovation. Note that no evidence is provided for any of these claims.

 

Fifteen years of testing and accountability and the National PTA says, “Stay the course.”

 

Surely this has no connection to the fact that the National PTA has received $3.7 million from the Gates Foundation, which has a deep faith in data and testing. $1 million of the total was earmarked specifically to promote Common Core.

 

Gates gave the group another $1 million in October 2015 specifically to support Common Core assessments and the results of those assessments.

Categories Common Core, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Testing

New York: Opt Out Advocates Apply for State Board of Regents

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2016 //
6

When you are locked in a tough battle, be pro-active. New York opt out advocates are encouraging allies to apply for two open positions on the Board of Regents. One of the co-founders of New York State Allies for Oublic education, Jessica McNair, parent and teacher is applying. The lesson here is: get involved. Run for office. Help good candidates win. If there are no good candidates, become a candidate.

 

This article is behind a paywall.

 

I am excerpting it here:

 

ALBANY — The parent-led coalition that last spring spurred one of the largest test refusal rates in the nation is pushing to have a voice on the state Board of Regents, as one of the opt-out leaders and several opt-out supporters have applied for a position on the education policymaking board.

 
“The people in the opt-out movement, or who have opted their kids out … are people that believe in a transparent research-based process,” said Lisa Rudley, co-founder of New York State Allies for Public Education, a coalition of more than 50 groups statewide.
Two seats on the 17-member board will be open after chancellor Merryl Tisch, a member at-large, and vice chancellor Tony Bottar, who represents the 5th Judicial District, which includes the Mohawk Valley, said they will not run for re-election. Their departures will significantly change the dynamic of the board as it continues to be impacted by the controversy over the Common Core learning standards.

 
The opt-out groups have announced their endorsement of regent Betty Rosa, who represents the Bronx, as chancellor and Beverly Ouderkirk, who represents the North Country, as vice chancellor.

 
But the parent-led movement is looking to take it a step further by getting opt-out supporters on the board itself.

 
One of the most notable applicants for Bottar’s seat is Jessica McNair, 36, a New Hartford teacher, parent and co-founder of Opt Out CNY, a NYSAPE coalition member that represents nearly 4,200 parents in Central New York. Opt Out CNY this fall called for Bottar’s resignation, saying he “ignored” their concerns.

 
McNair told POLITICO New York that with her experience as a teacher still in a classroom setting, as well as having a first- and third-grader attending public school she has a “good read on the pulse of what’s happening.”

 
“Typically teachers don’t apply because the demands of serving on the Board of Regents and working in a classroom can be pretty great, however, I really feel that an educator’s voice is what’s needed on the Board of Regents right now,” NcNair said.

 
McNair and NYSAPE have expressed frustration over the continued use of student test scores in teacher evaluations, over-testing, the use of standards that are not developmentally and age appropriate. They also have said they are disappointed in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Common Core task force recommendations.

 
The task force, charged with reviewing the Common Core, made a number of recommendations in December, including placing a moratorium on the use of state test scores on teacher and principal evaluations — a hold the Regents later put in place through the 2019-2020 school year. Local assessments will be used in their place.

 
“We’re not really addressing the issues at hand,” said McNair, who also served as an advisor to the task force. “I feel like I’ve been very outspoken in advocating for children and that we still haven’t gotten where we need to be. I also want to be a part of the solution in advocating for kids.”

 
Regents board members are selected by the Legislature during a joint session in March, a process currently controlled by the Assembly Democrats, the biggest conference. The chancellor and vice chancellor are selected by the Regents board.

 
The Assembly has collected approximately 50 applications to fill the two positions, which have a five-year term that begins April 1, according to Michael Whyland, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Whyland did not at have the number of applicants broken down by seat at this time, or the names of who applied. The Legislature will next schedule interviews and in March elect members to the board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, New York, Opt Out, Parent Groups, Teachers

District Administration Poll: Significant Resistance to Testing

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2016 //
4

District Administration magazine, which is written for district administrators, contains a startling poll conducted by the magazine.

 

When asked whether they expect the opt out movement to grow in their state, 60% said yes. Only 24% disagreed. The remainder neither agreed nor disagreed.

 

When asked whether political pressure against the Common Core would grow in their state, 62% said yes. Only 18% disagreed.

 

When asked whether the implementation of new standards and tests were “generally successful” in my state, 32% agreed, and 37% disagreed.

 

What this poll suggests is that the people who are in responsible positions in school districts see test resistance growing, and the Common Core faring poorly.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Common Core, Education Reform, Opinion Polling, Opt Out, Resistance
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