Dear Parents and Guardians of the Longwood Community,
As we approach testing season, it is important to note that new provisions in the Federal ESSA legislation require districts to inform parents and guardians of opt-out policies and affirms a parent's right to have their children opt-out of statewide standardized tests, where state and local policies permit. NYSED, however, has taken the position that since New York State law is silent on the right to opt-out, there is no obligation to inform parents.
It is every parent's right to decide what is best for their child, and therefore it is important that parents are informed about their rights to opt-out of the testing. One of the more persistent rumors parents are concerned about is that students who opt-out will automatically receive a "level one" score that will become part of their permanent record. This is false. When reporting individual students that opt-out, districts use a code that indicates refusal and no score is reported for the child.
MITA and its state affiliate NYSUT fully support a parent's right to choose what is best for their children. Despite the temporary moratorium that eliminates certain consequences of the state tests, these tests are still administered and used for "advisory" purposes and for identifying low-performing schools. These flawed tests and their scores continue to be used as baseline data and to set targets for the purpose of evaluating teachers, yet they provide no useful diagnostic information since the scores are not available until September or October of the following school year, after the child has moved on to a different class.
Contrary to what NYSED continues to claim, NYSUT teachers are not a part of the development of these tests and have not been for years.
Know your rights when it comes to testing. It is every parent's right to decide.
Josephine Libassi,
President
