nprEd: Anti-Test ‘Opt-Out’ Movement Makes a Wave In New York State

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by Anya Kamenetz

Across New York state this week, some students are refusing to take a test, and they’re not getting punished for it. The test is the Common Core-aligned, federally mandated test, and students, parents and educators are part of what they’re calling the opt-out movement.

Opt outs made news last week in several states: Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, to name a few. The objections are similar everywhere. But no state is posting numbers like New York.

According to the advocates’ own tally, about 175,000 opted out in several hundred New York districts. That’s big for a protest, but pretty small compared with the millions of students enrolled in public school in the state.

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