Change the Stakes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2014
CONTACT:
Janine Sopp,
917-541-6062, janinesopp@gmail.com
Nancy Cauthen,
646-438-1233, nkcauthen@earthlink.net
Number of NYC Parents
Refusing State
Tests Expected to Triple in 2014
New York
City –What
began two years ago as a small pocket of resistance has burgeoned
into a
full-blown protest movement: public school parents are demanding
an end to the
excessive use of standardized tests and top-down, corporate-backed
reforms. Change the Stakes
estimates that three times
as many NYC school children as last year – perhaps exceeding 1,000
– will refuse
to take the annual English Language Arts (ELA) and math exams that
begin next
week.
At the Brooklyn New School, well over 200
students – nearly 80%
of students in testing grades – will not take this year’s exams;
last year only
4 BNS students opted out of the tests. The estimated test refusal
rate at the
Earth School in Manhattan is 50%, compared with 30% last year. At
P.S. 446 in
Brownsville, as many as 25 3rd grade parents have
submitted refusal
letters. At the Academy of Arts and Letters in Fort Greene, the
number is 40,
representing 75% of the 3rd grade. Principals say they
expect the
numbers to continue to rise until the exams begin April 1st.
Although children not taking the tests span the
full range
from 3rd to 8th grade, parents of younger
children often
refuse the tests because of changes in their child’s attitude
toward school as
a result of the testing.
Roseanne Cuffy-Scott, parent of a 3rd grader in
the East
Village said, “My son used to love going to school until his
evenings were
filled with homework assignments that confused him with
complicated and poorly
written math and reading questions. His assignments are stressful
for both him
and myself. I have to spend hours explaining concepts that he's
not ready for
developmentally.” As for the tests, she said her son is nervous
and “is fearful
he will have to attend summer school or repeat third grade.”
Many parents refusing to have their children
tested encounter
supportive principals and teachers, while others are not so
fortunate. Samantha
De Los Santos, parent of a 3rd grader with special
needs in Queens’
District 25, wants to opt her son out but says administrators and
staff are
pressuring her to allow her son to be tested. “They’re telling me
he’ll be
scored as failing if he doesn’t take the test and that he might
not be
promoted. They’re really scaring me.”
The lack of direction from the NYC Department
of Education
has led to uncertainty among administrators about how to respond
to families
refusing the tests; parents are still seeking guidance from the
DOE. Although
the new Chancellor, Carmen Fariña, has made clear her intent to be
more
responsive to parents, her department’s efforts have been hampered
by the
transition falling in the middle of the school year and pressure
to tackle a
multitude of issues at once.
The information vacuum has fostered
misinformation, with
students being threatened with various punishments – being forced
to attend
summer school or denied promotion as well as being excluded from
graduation ceremonies
and other school celebrations – for opting out of the tests.
But many parents refuse to be dissuaded from
protecting
their children from a public education system gone wrong. Dawn
Babbush, a 3rd
grade parent in Brooklyn’s District 13, asks “What has happened to
our schools?
How did it get this bad? The voices of trusted educators and
caring parents have
been completely disregarded. Our children are being subjected to
a curriculum
that lacks joy and life – it’s scripted and standardized and full
of test prep.
Test scores are used to sort students and rank teachers, creating
a climate of
competition and fear. It's no wonder teachers feel pressure to
teach to the
test.”
Ms. Babbush added, “This is not the education
we want for
our children and we will not stand for it any longer. Parents have
a voice, and
our elected officials need to recognize us. We'll be paying
attention come
November.”
###
Change
the Stakes
(changethestakes.org)
is a group of New York City parents and educators promoting
alternatives to
high stakes-testing.
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