Why I’m Not Going To Hold Your Hand This Year

With the recent TEA announcement that the passing standard for STAAR will rise this year, interest in the Opt Out movement has started even earlier than usual.  Parents around the state have found their kids have been pulled from electives and forcibly enrolled in test prep class periods.  School board meetings have been called to address over-preparation concerns in the first six weeks of school!  Students have started their own opt out page and the press has been talking about it.  As news of the increased passing standards hit, the Facebook Texas Opt Out page had nearly 1000 new likes in a week — numbers we don’t usually see until the first assessment window approaches.

On the Opt Out Facebook page, we see three types of posts from parents.  The first is the “how do I do it” post.  And we happily direct you to many resources, including txedrights.net, with guides and forms for your use.  The second type is what I call the “you can do it” post, from parents who have successfully opted out.  These posts usually relate their personal struggles with the school and how and why they overcame them.  But the third kind is the one I want to talk about.  That is the post that seeks reassurance that nothing bad will happen to you or your child if you opt out.  The last two years, I as a lawyer, and other moderators as opt out parents, have patiently and carefully explained to you the possibilities, the realities and the experiences that exist.  We have tried to separate the fiction that the schools spread and the myths that many parents believe, from the actual law and the processes as they actually exist.  We have been your cheerleaders, your counselors and your advocates.

For me, I’m not going to play that role anymore.  And I am not going to play it for one simple reason.  Careful, cautious engagement will not bring the kind of change we need.  We need radical, committed parents who are willing to stand up to the schools and say “I dare you.”  We need the kind of groundswell activism that led to tens of thousands of New York parents opting out even when the schools told them they can’t. We need the kind of fierce opposition that led to zero students in a Seattle high school showing up for their state assessment.  We need the kind of brave line-in-the-sand protests that saw Colorado students walk out of class in protest of a misguided assessment process.  In Texas, we like to talk tough.  We like to claim to be rugged individualists.  But when it comes to standing up for our kids, by and large we are sheep and cowards.

What we have been doing in Texas has brought the most incremental of changes.  And while the increments have been good increments, we are nowhere near undoing the STAAR assessment system.  We are not in a place where the next legislature will be pressured to reduce assessments to the minimum required by the federal government.  We are not in a place where our elected representatives will decide that the high stakes must be detached from assessment.  We are not in a place where school boards, teachers and even our own TEA will stand up and say “this is wrong” without fear that they will end up on the losing side of the outcome.

So while all cautious and scared parents will hopefully come along and join the Opt Out movement this year, you will have to do it without my help.  I’m not speaking for any other moderator in the group. They may feel differently.  But for me, I’ve had it.  I’ve had it with a system that exploits the fear of parents, and of parents that let themselves be exploited.  I’ve had it with people who mouth how bad they think the system is, but because their kid isn’t at risk of retention, go ahead and participate anyway, just to be sure their kid is taken care of.  (That’s called enabling, by the way.)

Everybody’s kid is being negatively impacted.  In the narrowing of curriculum, in the loss of recess time, in the removal of peers from electives (which narrows the depth of experience in any class) . . . this list goes on and on.  Your kid may pass STAAR, but he still suffers.  She may not stress over high stakes, but she goes to school with a bunch of overstressed kids.  Don’t you think that impacts her experience?  So, this year, I am not holding your hand anymore.

Cautious, fearful parent, I understand.  I get it.  Do what you think is right.  I’ve spent hundreds of hours the past two years explaining legal arguments, the real facts about retention and potential and actual outcomes just to see parents fold up and submit their kids to assessment. I am not going to invest my limited time in doing that anymore.

Here is the bottom line, and you can do with it what you will.  Yes, there is a CHANCE, that in SSI grades a school could retain your child if you opt out.  (Of course the same chance exists if they participate and fail the STAAR).  The reality is very different. 90%+ of STAAR failures are promoted.  Yes, there is a chance a school could pull your kid from an elective.  There is also a chance you can fight that and win.  Or not.  Deal with it.  You are either trying to take the system down or you are joining in its purposes and objectives.  Decide what is more important and do it.  I am not going to counsel you through your decision anxiety, because in the end you will either have the courage to stand up or decide that a 1% risk is unacceptable to you.  You don’t need me to explain the risks and realities for you to do that.  You just need to decide if you are on board or not.

This year is vital to reforming assessment in Texas.  The actions of parents this assessment season will inform the work of our legislators in 2017.  The more we resist, the more we demand of candidates a response to their position on assessment, the more we confront the system in a way that raises our public profile, the greater the opportunity for real change.  So my time will be spent supporting those who will confront the system, not those who want to make sure they will be safe.

If you are ready, we are here to help.  I hope I am way too busy come spring because of people making the right decision.

October 16, 2015

Modified:

October 16, 2015

Comments (11)

  • Well said, Scott. I feel the same way. I’ve fought these tests a long time–refused to give the “practice” tests in my class, refused to excuse kids from
    final exams simply because they “passed,” refused to convince parents they are valid and reliable assessments. It’s time parents need to take up the fight. Thanks for giving a voice to those of us who have seen the damage these tests have done.

  • Rosana Macedo Alvarez

    BRAVO, BRAVO !!!!!! Great article!!!!! 100% in agreement. Other states are having results. Texas has rich history of independent thinkers, and individuals that conquered the wild frontier. We have to take this seriously. Thank you for your article !!!!

  • AGREED!!
    If you havent realized YOUR rights as a parent by now it’s not likely you ever will. We’ve been given more than adequate information in regards to our rights to opt out of the STARR. Yes, by opting out there may be consequences. Be willing to except those consequences. Stand up for your child and mine. You would not allow anyone to bully your child, why are you letting the schools bully you?

  • I need info on how to combat the system over opting out and my kid still being able to earn a diploma.
    Right now, it is my understanding that he will not earn a diploma if he doea not pass. He’s in 8 th grade and I don’t want him to take the high school EOCs

  • Michael Bennett

    This is the first full article or piece of information that I’ve read on this topic, (definitely not the last,) and I couldn’t be more in agreement with everything that you’ve stated.
    To be completely honest, I didn’t know that opting out was an option, but when I found out 2 days ago, I had a letter printed up, and I dropped it at the school this morning. I know that it’s incredibly short notice, but I don’t care. I’m very dedicated to not allowing this nonsense, and would have made this decision a lot sooner, had I known that it was a decision that could be made.
    My daughter has been incredibly stressed about the STAAR test since the first quarter of the year. She has developed occasional insomnia because of it, and has broken down and cried on several occasions, stating that she’s worried that she’ll be held back a year, or that she’ll be a failure. (She’s 8, by the way.) I find it absolutely reprehensible that a body of educators and/or legislators would allow something that causes this kind of emotional trauma in our children.
    I fully intend to adamantly fight this, and if I get taken to court because of it, then I’ll fight tooth and nail in front of a judge as well. All that matters to me is the emotional well being of my child.
    Thank you to everyone who is currently fighting this battle, and to those of you who have already fought it, and are offering support, wisdom, and assistance to those of us who are just now taking up arms.

  • Thank YOU for your bold words. I am so puzzled that so many folks who have had their kids take the STAAR test year after year, respond to me when they hear we opt out with, “I didn’t know you could do that!”
    What do you mean, you didn’t know? The very fact that these parents, great parents in my opinion, never questioned that they could remove “THEIR CHILD” baffles me. We have a much bigger problem than a crummy test. We have parents that aren’t thinking, that are trusting in a fallen system, that don’t know how to, or choose not to, advocate. How in the world do we expect our children to be thinkers, to stand for what is right, to question an unethical system or law as adults one day if they do not see it modeled? Maybe one of the the blessings of having 2 children with special needs is that advocating is not foriegn to me. When the government or anyone tells me “no” in regard to my child, my red flags go up immediately.
    It has been an incredible opportuninty to walk alongside not only my children who “can’t” take the STAAR test, but alongside my two children that “can”. It has been beautiful to watch my mainstream kiddos say, “enough is enough”. This year I gave them the option to “opt in”, to go along with their peers and take the test, the test that they can ace and causes no personal stress. They chose to opt out for the very reasons you articulated in the article above. The test is wrong for everyone. The test hurts everyone. They refuse to be a part of it and in saying “no” they are expressing their voices. As much as I hate this test, it has been the most amazing training tool as a parent. Our familiy of 6 have had more discussions about legislature and laws, about discrimination, teacher evaluations, special education children and their rights, no child left behind, interpretation of “test and assessment”, parental rights, 1st ammendment rights, and the importance of standing for what IS RIGHT. No scantron exam can ever teach character. So thank you Mr. STAAR for allowing us to use YOU this one time.

  • I speak as a science lab teacher who doesn’t administer the test but monitors the hallways during the exam. The amount of traffic going to and from the bathrooms is quite significant. Students drag their feet returning to class. Teachers will ask me to check on students who are gone “too” long. One year several classes evacuated because students threw up during the exam
    The elementary I worked at students rarely had daily recess, especially 3 – 5. I worked with a group of 5th grade ers to groom them for the science test, we played a lot of games, worked on vocab., and did experiment s, and when I took them out for recess, they were terrified their teacher would see them and they would get in trouble. It is my belief that no child can learn in a state of fear, dull methodical kill and drill, and be expected to remain seated most of the day with no exercise and breaks. What is so pitiful, they may for the most part pass the test, but their souls, spirits, and passions are crushed.

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