february rabble rouser(s) of the month: carol burris & the opt-out dissenters

no child left behind mandate of 2001 paved the way for upping the ante in standardized testing on the common core subjects over the last couple of years.  the “common core” are a set of high-stakes principles by which all students are evaluated in basic education subjects, like math and science. with the new PARCC tests to begin in 43 states in march, some very heated debate has sprung up.
proponents say that each state having their own standards has created disparities and a common core can unify the standards.  theoretically, a strong standardized system would keep elementary thru high school students up to speed nationwide. frustrated parents, students, teachers and other opponents such as the harvard graduate school of education insist that the exam process has been corrupted and that public education has become distorted.  in the case of evaluations, one size does not fit all, and there becomes a loss of creativity and individualization. students are not universally prepared and, in fact, 65% to 70% are likely to fail.  the PARCC, in addition to to other standard tests such as ACT, SAT, AP and others, are sapping students and depriving teachers of days to actually teach.  high-stakes education have also been correlated with high drop out rates.

a standardized system is criticized for being run by bureaucrats (“fed ed”) rather than local educators.  “the further we remove these decisions from the students, teachers and families, the people closest to the school, the more we see our schools failing and we’re not getting the results we want,” cheryl boise of pennsylvanians restoring education was quoted in penn live in 2013. the gripe has been that the raised standards cannot be met without adequate resources, which sets certain schools up for failure and puts schools at risk of closure and teachers out of work, only to be replaced by for-profit charter schools.

tens of thousands of students from new york, colorado, pennsylvania, ohio, oregon, and others started the dissent back last year, but with testing set to begin soon, “opting out” has become a major trend this month. vindy.com has listed many examples of protest, such as an ohio middle school teacher calling out the “bullies” for warning of consequences for students sitting out exams. for better or worse, standardization has created a federally-funded system. the federal government has proposed repercussions in loss of federal stimulus for states that do not adopt the changes. in fact, the state of washington was stripped of it's NCLB waiver last april.  opponents say taking funding away creates a disparity similar to what the testing is purported to avoid.

there is not even consensus from state to state whether it is legal for parents or students to opt out. the repercussions for not participating are widely varied with some states having no policies and some cutting off funding.

websites such as fairtest.org and unitedoptout.com has risen to encourage an end to government mandated education reform as more and more parents across the country are pushing for opting out. carol burris, new york's 2013 high school principal of the year, wrote an eloquent op-ed for the washington post on february 19, in which she broke down the various factors for why testing is killing education and then stated, “i am a rule follower by nature. i have never gotten a speeding ticket. i patiently wait my turn in lines. i am the product of 12 years of catholic schools — raised in a blue-collar home where authority was not to be questioned. i was the little girl who always colored in the lines. but there comes a time when rules must be broken — when adults, after exhausting all remedies, must be willing to break ranks and not comply. that time is now. the promise of a public school system, however imperfectly realized, is at risk of being destroyed. the future of our children is hanging from testing’s high stakes. the time to opt out is now.

apparently, the government is listening and trying to react to the protests.  the governor of florida has acknowledged that schools are saturated in tests.  perhaps most notably, secretary of education arne duncan has asked congress to rewrite no child left behind to limit standardized testing.

students in sante fe, new mexico protest at the
public education department on feb 24.
(eddie moore/albuquerque journal)

billboard on the street in long island, ny on feb 13. (from: thepjsta.org)