ROLISON, DUTCHESS LEGISLATURE CALL FOR COMMON CORE OPT-OUT
Lawmakers pass unanimous bill supporting state’s Common Core Parental Refusal Act
Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Rob Rolison announced today that the legislature passed a unanimous measure at its April 13 meeting supporting state Assembly and Senate bills to notify parents of their right to opt their children out of Common Core testing. The bipartisan Common Core Parental Refusal Act has been introduced in both houses of the state legislature. Among other things, the state legislation would clarify the right of parents of students in grades three through eight to opt out of the latest round of standardized testing, which begins with English Language Arts examinations on April 14; math testing for this age bracket starts next week.
The Common Core Parental Refusal Act also outlines the precise method of parental notification and protects students, schools, and school districts from potential punitive actions associated with opting out of the standardized tests. The Dutchess Legislature’s “memorialization” urging passage of the Parental Refusal Act was sent to the county’s state delegation as well as Governor Andrew Cuomo. In 2014 the parents of 60,000 New York state students chose not to participate in some or all of the Common Core testing.
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said, “Dutchess County parents have every right to let New York State know that no child is common. If they do not wish for their child to be subjected to a one size fits all testing standard, there must be a transparent, uniform method for them to ‘opt out’ their child if they choose to do so.”
“Parental input and choice are cornerstones of our education system, yet these principles were ignored as Common Core standards were developed and implemented. Parents should know their rights, and the rights of their children, to refuse these ill-conceived tests. Valuable classroom instruction shouldn’t be sacrificed to endless ‘teaching to the test,’ which is why my colleagues and I are calling on our representatives in Albany to pass the Common Core Parental Refusal Act today,” said Rolison.
A copy of the Dutchess County Legislature’s memorialization of the Common Core Parental Refusal Act can be found here.
www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Legislature/2015127.pdf
