Chicago Children Who Opt Out Face Pressure
Guest post by Michelle Gunderson.
My eighth grade son is opting out of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). This is not a decision he or I made lightly.
A month ago he said, "Mom, I see what you stand for, and I want to opt out of the ISAT."
Opting out of testing is not something I pushed. My son is very sensitive and never likes being singled out. The decision was made based on deep-seated family values - our beliefs in the purpose of education and our political analysis of the harm testing creates. And this decision was made with my son's initiative and my consent.
In Chicago, this type of thoughtful and deliberate conversation happened in thousands of homes over the past month.
We are one of the lucky families. During our required opt out conference with our son's principal my husband gave her a copy of my recent blog on the Ethical Treatment of Children Opting Out. She said that she understood and respected our position and would do her best to honor it.
I wish this had been the case everywhere in our city.
Cassandre Creswell from a grassroots parent organization, More Than a Score, is collecting parent accounts of how children opting out of testing have been treated in our schools across the city. For
