Getting Clear on Opt Out/Refusal of Tests: An Act of Civil Disobedience
Now that Opt Out/Refusal is increasing with speed across the nation suddenly there are attorneys available and organizations available to research opt out and get the legal mumbo jumbo clear for all the parents, teachers and students.
So, this is the deal: We at United Opt Out have been working with opt out/refusal for four years now. And there are many parents across the nation who have been refusing these tests for much longer than UOO has been in existence. At UOO, we have worked our hardest, for free, to put together a guide per state to support parents as they move forward with refusing the tests – and this year, in particular, is a crucial year to opt out or refuse the tests. The national Common Core tests that are being implemented this year are the trigger for a landslide of opportunities to privatize public schools across the nation.
If we refuse to take the tests, therefore refuse to hand over student data, we create a situation in which corporations cannot profit and in which states have no data to shut down public schools.
These tests are designed to fail approximately 70% of America’s children. We must refuse these tests.
That being said, it’s fascinating to us at UOO, to watch everyone point out the “legalities” of opt out just in time for testing – and specifically in the year 2014 -2015 when testing drives the privatization plans at fast speed. We are not sheeple. We will not read these reports and policy papers, nod in meek acceptance, and move forward with opt out only if the legal mumbo jumbo allows it.
These legalities mean nothing. In other words, we will continue to refuse the tests.
Opt out is an act of civil disobedience. It is an act of civil disobedience that is necessary in the face of unjust immoral laws.
We at UOO have always believed that the guides offer a base – a place to start for parents and students who plan to opt out. We recognize that opt out is not “legal” in most states in terms of education statutes. The Education Commission for States is happy to inform you of the legalities. But everyone is a little too late to the opt out party. It’s a done deal and here to stay. And we are certain that more folks will suddenly find the funding to address opt out/refusal in the upcoming months as the testing revolt continues and the masses come forward to say,
We are done. We are done allowing the federal government mandates and the corporate cronies to destroy our public schools and make billions of dollars on the backs of our children, our teachers and our public school communities. We are done watching our teachers and children attempt to survive in a fear-based high stakes testing environment where policies are designed to fail everyone. We are done watching our teachers commit educational malpractice against their will. We are done watching school funding support testing, test prep, technology for testing, infrastructure for technology, and staffing – for more testing. We are done watching public schools feed our children tests while denying children small class sizes, librarians, libraries, teachers with actual teaching degrees, nurses, counselors, art, music, PE, recess, books, resources for classrooms, quality school buildings and more. We are done watching our children suffer from poverty while funding continues to feed the corporate beast instead of creating school communities with wrap around services to support our children and communities in need. We are done watching politicians use student test scores as a measurement of student, teacher and school success or failure – as these scores mean nothing. Our children are so much more than a test score. We are done watching children with special needs, children with anxiety disorders and other emotional stresses, and English Language Learners suffer under these mandates.
We will opt out as an act of civil disobedience until the mandates and policies change to allow public schools to thrive while protecting our children from the effects of poverty.
While attorneys busy themselves writing policy papers about opt out legalities, while federal and state mandates busy districts Getting Clear on Opt Out/Refusal of Tests: An Act of Civil Disobedience - UNITED OPT OUT: The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform:
