In recent months, social media has been ablaze with talk of regular folk taking action to resist the Trump agenda. Protests are a daily occurrence, and even those who previously paid little attention to politics are now hitting the streets with cardboard signs to express their outrage. I see girls as young as 6 years old scurrying into brownstone Brooklyn public schools with handmade, mauve-colored pussy hats atop their heads. I would even argue that more than half of the adult population in the United States knows who Betsy DeVos is and what she stands for. While I wish more people had been ‘woke’ under Obama, this new wave of activism – with the message of #PeoplePower at its heart – gives me hope.
Since 2013, I have been strongly encouraging residents of New York State – and beyond – to refuse the Common Core-aligned grades 3-8 state tests in math and ELA. I still have nothing positive to say about them, and at this point – in my weary, I-give-zero-you-know-whats state – I have escalated to practically demanding that you opt out this year. Even Betty Rosa, the new chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, said she’d refuse the tests. Here’s what Kate Taylor of The New York Times reported in March 2016:
“Dr. Rosa has criticized the new, more difficult tests that the state introduced under her predecessor, Merryl H. Tisch, as part of its transition to the Common Core standards. She has suggested that the tests were designed so that many students would fail, giving policy makers a chance to point to a crisis in the state’s schools. On Monday, she said that if she had children in the grades taking the exams, she would have them sit out the tests, as the parents of more than 200,000 students did last year.”
People, we have power. Refusing the state tests sends the message that we reject the further privatization of public education in this country. Under this umbrella, we:
- say NO to the over-testing of our youngest learners, particularly English-language learners who must also take the grueling four-part NYSESLAT assessment AFTER the state ELA and math tests.
- say NO to school segregation and the argument that a school is “bad” because of low test scores.
- say NO to fear and threats! NYC students ARE getting into competitive middle and high schools without test scores, and schools are not being defunded.
- say NO to a one-size-fits-all education.
- say NO to poorly constructed, highly flawed and developmentally inappropriate standardized tests.
- say NO to test scores being used to label schools, students and teachers as “failing.”
- say NO to uninspiring test prep curricula.
- say NO to the lack of art, music and culturally responsive curricula in our schools.
- say NO to data-mining.
Opting out is not just to protect your own child. It also sends the message that we are looking out for ALL children. Peter Greene, a highly respected educator and blogger, recently published a piece on test refusal in The Huffington Post. It gives even more reasons to opt out including “the value of non-compliance,” my personal favorite. Greene writes, “In this day and age, it is never too early for a child to learn that sometimes people in authority will demand that you comply with dumb actions. Unthinking compliance is unwise. It’s good for all citizens to learn to say ‘no’.”
The New York State tests begin two weeks from today. Please visit these websites to download your opt out letter. It’s not too late to say NO, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t refuse the tests.
NYS Allies for Public Education
Critical Classrooms, Critical Kids 