Christie on the Consequences of Parents Refusing PARCC Tests

Actually, Laura, the information that Chris Tienken and I provided and the information that Save Our Schools NJ gives to parents are all 100% accurate.

From Save Our Schools NJ:

5. If I refuse the PARCC tests for my child, will her/his school lose funding?

There is no federal or state law that requires penalties on schools if parents refuse to allow their children to take the PARCC tests. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law did include a mandate that required schools to have a 95 percent participation rate on state tests or face sanctions. However, missing the 95 percent participation rate at the school level has not been unusual in New Jersey. And no federal financial penalties related to Title I instructional funds have been imposed on any New Jersey school for missing that participation rate.

Since 2012, NJ has had a waiver to NCLB that replaces sanctions for missing the 95 percent participation rate with a new accountability system. Under the waiver, only schools designated “priority” or “focus” schools face direct intervention for missing state targets. Priority and focus schools can have up to 30% of their federal Title I funds re-directed by the NJDOE for specific “interventions,” but even these funds are supposed to be used for school improvement, not taken away. The overwhelming majority of the state’s 250 “priority” and “focus” schools are in high-poverty urban districts. See 2014 list here.

State law does give the Commissioner of Education broad authority over district budgets and funding, but this is not tied to participation rates on state tests. So far, there have been no reports of districts losing funding because parents opted their children out of state tests. Any effort to do so would face significant political and probable legal challenges, especially as more and more parents across New Jersey plan to refuse the PARCC tests for their children.

Source: http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/parcc-faq/#5

The NJDOE and the USDOE are sabre rattling to try and intimidate parents, but we are not so easy to scare. Actually cutting funding to districts is very different from threatening to do so. The threats are long-standing. The reality is a lot more challenging to implement.

The day after Commissioner Hespe made his comments to the NJDOE, Senator Nia Gill sent him this letter:

https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/posts/953225431377284

She and other Senators and Assembly members are introducing legislation to prohibit the NJDOE from cutting state funds to districts based on parental test refusals.

Laura,

We support Senator Gill's bill because no government agency should be allowed to bully people.

Those are our children, our public schools, and our tax dollars.

Government of the people, by the people, for the people.

Laura,

Despite all the data to the contrary, you seem to believe that high-stakes standardized tests are of benefit to low-income students.

These are the tests used to forcibly shut down public schools in low-income communities, ignoring community protests to the contrary.

These are the tests used to fire teachers and keep students from graduating.

These are the tests that cause a narrowing of curriculum and turn public schools into endless test preparation sessions.

These are the tests that have produced no positive outcomes, after 12 years of No Child Left Behind.

These are the tests that perpetuate inequality rather than correcting it.

Since you ignore the research data, I'll let Trenton Reverend and scholar Toby Sanders explain to you why he opposes the tests:

https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSchoolsNJ/posts/954583044574856