Puzzle of the Day: Trying to Understand the Opt-Out Movement’s Contempt of Objectivity
April 4, 2016N.J. School Boards Association President Explains Why We Need to Eliminate LIFO
April 6, 2016QOD: According to Civil Rights Leaders, “Misguided” Opt-Out Lobbyists Undermine Struggle for Educational Equity
Politico confirms what we all know: “White suburban parents were the driving force of an opt-out movement in which hundreds of thousands of students last year skipped state end-of-year assessments.” Aware of the bad optics, union leaders and associated lobbyists are desperately trying to broaden the “movement” to include black and Latino parents.
It’s not working.
In fact, civil rights leaders call this attempt “misguided” and “an welcome diversion” from the importance of measuring student growth among traditionally disenfranchised children.
Civil rights advocates share many of the concerns about students taking potentially too many tests. But they say the opt-out movement goes too far, because data from standardized tests help identify where students are struggling to target support for them.
Luis Torres, director of policy and legislation for the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the opt-out movement is an unwelcome diversion, and he questioned whether it will gain much traction among Latino families.
“We already have so much work to do to try to close the achievement gap that this is a distraction,” Torres said. “It’s not Latino parents, it’s not African-American parents. We don’t have the time to be wasting trying to opt out. We need to know exactly how the kids are doing because when they go to college, if they are not prepared it’s going to cost people more money.”
