Chalkbeat Bias: A litany of Anti- Opt out editorials

Take a look at this morning's Rise and Shine and what do you see? All anti-opt out but not much from the other side -- and there is so much out there I can't even keep up. But we know the so-called press supports the ed deform agenda. The deformers have not only bought Cuomo.

These in particular, expose the bias at Chalkbeat:

Errol Louis writes that the teachers union's call for parents to withdraw their children from taking the tests threatens to undermine the movement, which he argues is wrongheaded anyway because "high-stakes testing is, for better or worse, the norm in our complex modern society."

• NY Daily News

The Buffalo News weighs into the debate, also tying the opt-out movement to one that is being "driven by" the state teachers union.

• Buffalo News

Really? I know the people at Chalkbeat know full well the union, in particular the UFT, has played little role in what is a grassroots parent movement (as opposed to the astroturfs so often promoted by Chalkbeat). Yet this headline without comment allows the lie to go out -- a distortion of the real world. Chalkbeat reporters contact Change the Stakes asking for opt out information. (They won't get that from the UFT, which has done nothing to assist the opt out movement - and in fact, has obstructed it - see the turn down of the MORE testing reso at the March DA.)

In fact, CTS has so much info unbiased reporting would lead to offering the alternative view.

They can't use the excuse that they are just listing articles in the news without any comment -- in the old days of Gotham they at least used to offer the counter arguments from the blogs in their evening report.

I would tell you to go comment but really, why bother?

gut check

Parents who have been outspoken critics of the state's testing policies say they won't go so far as to opt their children out of taking the exams when they are administered this week.

• New York Times

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie raised concerns the growing push by parents to keep their children from taking tests, questioning "if the system can be looked upon fairly if some kids are taking (tests) and some are not.”

• Buffalo News

In an editorial, the Daily News offers a similar argument, writing that tests "are the sole apples-to-apples tool" for comparing teacher quality and "the only way to know whether 1.1 million kids in city public schools, including many hundreds of thousands who are in veritable educational wastelands, are really learning."

• NY Daily News