The island-wide movement sees a spike in school opt-out percentages
Last Tuesday began the first day of several for students to either sit and take the widely criticized state mandated ELA test, or elect to opt out of the exam entirely.
According to the group Long Island Opt Out, the total number of opt outs on Long Island is 82,036. Of that number, 47 percent of students in the Island Trees School District and a whopping 61 percent of students in the Levittown School District said no to taking the state test.
“Every parent should know whether his or her child is on track for success in the fifth grade or high school graduation or success in college,” said New York State Education Department spokesman Jonathan Burman. “Every parent should know how a child in his or her school compares to other children in the district, region and state. And every taxpayer should know the progress of our multi-billion dollar investment in education. In short, test refusal is a mistake because it
eliminates important information about how our kids are doing.”
While many parents and teachers would agree that the NYSED statement is absurd, Burman further pressed the matter by stating that, “those who call for opting out really want New York to opt out of information that can help parents and teachers understand how well their students are doing,” and that parents and teachers need to “stop making noise to protect the adults and start speaking up for the students.”
Standing up for her beliefs on education, one Island Trees parent said that her third grader was one of many who refused the test.
“My daughter is academically advanced and a straight-A student. She refused because these tests are unfair and we are trying to take a stand against this curriculum,” said the concerned mom. “These tests are the focus so the teachers have to teach to the test to prepare them. A ridiculous amount of time is spent on math and reading, since that is what they are tested on. Science and history have taken a backseat and are grossly underrepresented in the curriculum.”
She went on to say how creativity and hands on learning are a way of the past.
“As a former teacher, I am all for challenging children, but this curriculum is developmentally inappropriate and does not foster a love for learning,” she said.
Jeanette Deutermann, head of the opt-out movement on Long Island, and the Facebook Group Long Island Opt Out, had mixed feelings on the results of the refusal numbers.
“I am so incredibly grateful to parents that have chosen to stand up for public schools, their children and our public school teachers by refusing to allow their children to participate in the NYS assessments this year,” said Deutermann.
“However, that is mixed with sadness that our classrooms have come to this. I would love for nothing more than to know that legislators, Governor Cuomo and the State Education Department have finally heard us loud and clear as to what we want and do not want for our children’s education here in New York.”
While there are a seemingly select few that see both sides of the issue, a large number of teachers and parents only display their disdain for the Common Core test, further aggravating the problem.
“Unfortunately, we continue to hear the rhetoric that ‘parents just do not understand how important these tests are.’ It is not that we do not understand the importance of knowing the progress of our children, it’s that we do not believe that these assessments are valid or useful in any way to give us that information on how they are progressing,” said
Deutermann. “We value the importance of child-centered, hands-on learning, and these Common Core assessments have robbed our children of that rich, creative learning environment all children deserve. We will continue to refuse these assessments in growing numbers until Governor Cuomo, the legislature and the SED reverses course.”
One would be hard-pressed to find anyone that agrees with the Common Core standard of education. Until the values of education are replaced with those once respected two decades ago, it will continue to be an uphill battle.
