ALEC, Pearson, Gates & Opt Out Bills vs. Civil Disobedience
I am not a supporter of opt out bills. This surprises lots of folks. Opt out bills distract from the real issues. Opt Out is NOT an anti-testing movement. We support teacher-created tests, portfolios, projects - all the things that allow teachers to determine how best to support their learners. Opt Out is a social movement which gains its power through the act of refusing the tests - an act of civil disobedience which denies the government and the corporations the much coveted data. Data is the new gold. Refusing the tests, as an act of civil disobedience, is absolutely necessary in order to restore learning to our classrooms while demanding wrap around services and equitable funding for all schools. Opt out bills do nothing to change the inequitable conditions in our public schools that legislators continue to ignore. If Opt Out is legal, we can be guaranteed that our schools will still have racially and culturally biased high stakes tests. Our schools will still funnel money to corporate testing and the technology for testing - a never ending cash cow. Our schools will still lack nurses, librarians, libraries, art, music, PE, counselors and more. Our schools will still operate within the confines of a fear-based environment which requires teaching to the test all year long. Our schools will still be segregated and void of democracy. Children will continue to be harmed. Teachers will continue to commit educational malpractice against their will.
Opt Out as an act of civil disobedience is necessary in order to force the government to change immoral and unjust laws.
I do not need permission to opt out. Opt out bills proclaim to the masses that Opt Out must be legal in order for parents and students to refuse the tests. If Opt Out is legal, and all repercussions are removed, they have just placed us back in the mode of servitude to the corporations via government mandates. Nothing changes. We lose our power and we lose the mass awakening that is occurring across the country as individuals look around and recognize that our democracy is being dismantled via the take down of our cornerstone, our public schools.
There is much to pay attention to as we gain power via Opt Out. It's important to recognize that co-optation of this social movement could indeed mean the decline of the Opt Out Movement.
ECS , Education Commissioner of States, recently came out with a document that shares the legalities of Opt Out. ECS is funded by Pearson and Gates, among others. As Morna Peg with Pen: ALEC, Pearson, Gates & Opt Out Bills vs. Civil Disobedience: