Common Core Opt-Out Movement Hits All-Time High In Local Public Schools

Donny Levit -
A crowd packed the sidewalk in front of PS 321 at a 2014 rally. Photo courtesy of Emma Murphy.

The growing opt-out movement from Common Core testing in New York City public schools continues to expand, and according to a new report, one local school is among the top of those where students choose to not take the tests.

Figures from the city shared by Chalkbeat New York show that in 2015 P.S. 321 (180 7th Avenue) had the second highest opt-out figures in all of the city — the top spot belongs to the nearby Brooklyn New School (610 Henry Street, Carroll Gardens), while local District 15 had the most opt-outs of any in the city.

P.S. 321 school has been particularly active in the opt-out movement for statewide exams. The administration, along with many parents of students who attend the school, held a protest against testing standards in April 2014. More recently, families at 321 and a number of other local schools took to the sidewalks to protest the proposed impact of test scores on teacher evaluations. At the time, a teacher at  New Voices Middle School on 18th Street told us that kids who have to deal with these tests are cracking under the pressure.

“One kid last week was staying home because what was happening with test prep, he felt that staying home to study was better than being in school,” ESL teacher Ghazi Albuliwi said during the March protest. “And that pressure goes all the way down to first grade.”

Chalkbeat reports that more than 160 schools have been involved in opting out, totaling more than 7,900 students throughout the city. This year, 243 students opted out of the reading exam and 250 opted out of the math exam from P.S. 321 alone.

Despite the drive to opt out in our neighborhood, a New York Times editorial argues that the math and reading tests should not be eliminated, because this could “could hurt efforts to document and close the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and more privileged students.” The statewide numbers for the opt-out movement for public school students between grades three through eight hover at roughly 20%, while citywide numbers are closer to 2%.

The debates and protests over the Common Core exams aren’t likely to end any time soon. What are your thoughts — do your kids take the tests, or were they some of the ones who opted out?