Florida Parents Sue State and Districts for Retaining Students Who Opted Out
Opt Out of Florida Network reports that parents of students retained in third grade due to opting out of state tests– nothing more– are suing the Florida Department of Education and numerous local school boards for deciding last minute that opting out in 2015-16 would result in student retention in 2016-17.
Two lawsuits were filed; the primary lawsuit as well as a request for emergency injunction for students immediately affected by what appears to be substandard communication between local districts and the state regarding the penalizing of students who were previously informed that opting out of the state’s standardized tests would be accommodated– with the state delivering inconsistent , bumbling guidance on the issue.
As one might expect, the looming threat of loss of federal Title I funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for the state’s not pressuring districts into producing that federally-required 95 percent of students tested serves as the threatening spoon stirring this third-grade retention pot.
Below is an excerpt from the emergency injunction lawsuit, as noted in the August 10, 2016, Opt Out Florida Network post:
The emergency motion for indicative relief seeks immediate relief for students currently retained in the third grade, who are without a documented reading deficiency.IntroductionFlorida Parents Sue State and Districts for Retaining Students Who Opted Out | deutsch29:
Parents of students who received report cards with passing grades—some of whom were honor roll students—seek emergency declaratory and injunctive relief alleging that, because they opted out of standardized