Message To NYSED Commissioner Elia: Threats, Punitive Actions Will Only Increase Opt Outs

Last week NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia threatened "ramifications" if the Opt Out movement continued to grow across New York State.

Today Elia doubled down on that threat by saying funds may be withheld from districts and/or schools with high opt out rates::

Individual schools could lose funding if large numbers of students opt out of state standardized tests in April, state education commissioner MaryEllen Elia said on Wednesday.

Of the 1.1 million students eligible to take state exams in math and English language arts exams this year, nearly 20 percent, or 200,000 students, opted out.

The state Education Department is in conversations with the U.S. Department of Education working on a plan regarding possible sanctions for districts with high opt-out rates, Elia said.

In the conference call with reporters, Elia said the sanctions weren’t clearly defined and could simply consist of a phone call to superintendents asking what happened and what they plan to do differently next year. But it's also possible that federal Title I funds will be withheld, she said.

Brian from PJSTA had a message for Elia a couple of days ago after she issued the initial "ramifications" threat:

@perdidostschool @MaryEllenElia should know that ramifications 4 civil disobedience will only be met with greater acts of civil disobedience

— brian s (@Sashammy) August 9, 2015

The more heavy-handed NYSED and the Board of Regents get in dealing with the Opt Out movement, the more they're going to increase the number of opt outs for next year.

In 2014, 5% of students eligible to take the state tests opted out.

In 2015, 20% of students eligible to take the state tests opted out.

If Elia wants to use that heavy hand of hers to get punitive with districts or schools, strip them of or limit the use of Title 1 funds, or take some other punitive action meant to send a message that opting out will not be tolerated in New York State, she's going to find herself the focal point of a very angry group of New York State parents and teachers looking to send a message that New York is still nominally a democracy and educrats don't get to dictate policy.

Intimidation From NYSED And Threats From Governor Cuomo's Office

Here is why the Kenmore-Tonawanda school board voted unanimously last night to back away from a proposal they had made to not administer the Common Core state tests:

In a letter, the state Education Department informed the school board it could lose state and federal funding, and the state said board members could be fired if they violated the law.

Superintendent Dawn Mirand, who publicly opposed the board’s proposal, said in a meeting last month that teachers and administrators could lose certification if they did not administer state tests. Mirand originally estimated the district could lose as much as $50 million in aid, WGRZ reported.

“With all of that in mind,” School Board President Bob Dana said, “I can’t honestly sit in front of you today and push for a continuation of these proposals.”

...

Peter Stuhlmiller, the president of the Kenmore Teachers Association, said the board made the right decision by moving in a different direction.

“We realized that our board members faced incredible intimidation from the state Education Department and threats from the governor’s office,” Stuhlmiller said.

“Hopefully, in the long run, State Ed will wake up and realize they can’t continually use kids as a pawn in this political battle.”

Incredible intimidation from the State Education Department and threats from the governor's office.

Welcome to Andrew Cuomo's New York, where nothing must derail the Endless Testing and Teacher Accountability Express.

Let's see what happens if hundreds of thousands of parents opt their children out of the state tests later this month.

NYSED and Cuomo's office will have to turn their intimidation and threats onto parents.

Make no mistake, there's already a move toward that with Regents Chacnellor Tisch's threats and Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul's criticism of parents who are opting their kids out of the tests.

Cuomo Attacks Teacher Pensions In Second Inauguration Speech

Governor Cuomo minutes ago:

Albany has been too concerned with protecting the pension rights of teachers and not enough with the future of students. #NYGov2015
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 1, 2015

Notice nothing about cop pensions, state worker pensions, etc.

Just teacher pensions.

This guy REALLY doesn't like teachers, does he?

Teachers union leaders, you plan on responding?

Especially since the governor has systematically underfunded school districts around the state even as the State Education Department and the Board of Regents throw more and more mandates on them.

It's true that Albany doesn't care enough about the future of students, but it has nothing to do with teacher pensions.

It starts with the way funding goes and continues with the way the state pursues a top-down, authoritarian public education agenda.

If Cuomo, the Regents, and the New York State Education Department did care about students, they'd listen to the complaints of parents over Common Core and the Endless Testing regime the state is pursuing.

Somehow that fact didn't make Cuomo's fantastical inauguration speech tonight.

Instead the attack on teachers and their pensions did.

Common Core Authoritarians Bully, Threaten And Intimidate To Keep Common Core In Place

Common Core proponents seem to be very big on censorship and intimidation.

In NY State, there's a gag order on teachers who administer or grade Common Core tests - they are under threat of losing their jobs, having their teaching licenses revoked or being hit with criminal charges if they reveal test items or talk publicly about the tests.

In Louisiana, former Bloomberg NYCDOE henchman John White seems to have followed suit with threats and intimidation over the Core:

Gov. Bobby Jindal went on the offensive against state Education Superintendent John White Wednesday, accusing him of marginalizing teachers and implying Louisiana's top education officials may be silencing opposition from educators on the Common Core academic standards.

Jindal issued an executive order requiring local and state education officials to respect teachers' right to free speech and specifically their right to criticize Common Core. There was universal praise for the governor's action, but also some disagreement over whether there is a widespread problem with teachers being muzzled over the academic standards. 

...

Jindal issued the executive order as a reaction to an article in Alexandria's Town Talk, in which one anonymous teacher says she had been reprimanded for posting a negative comment about Common Core on Facebook. The governor's office said it had heard from other teachers who were also told to keep their Common Core complaints to themselves.

"We have received a lot of calls and letters from teachers who are opposed to Common Core, and we want to be sure that these teachers' rights are protected," said Shannon Bates, Jindal's deputy communications director. "If teachers are being quieted in one parish -- it can happen in others, and we want to make sure these teachers are able to be heard."

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers says they haven't had a lot of complaints from teachers about being muzzled over Common Core and Jindal is in a battle with White over the standards, so it's possible he's making hay over something that isn't a huge problem - yet.

But NOLA.com makes this much clear:

Louisiana teachers associations were grateful that Jindal reaffirmed free speech protections for educators. They said teachers are afraid to speak out against school policies, though that fear isn't exclusively related to Common Core.

Educators have felt mounting pressure for at least two years not to say anything about major teaching changes, since it has become easier for supervisors to fire them through a new state law Jindal supported. 

"They do feel as though their jobs might be in jeopardy. It's not just in Louisiana. It's something that is common all over the country for teachers," said Debbie Meaux, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators.

There's little doubt that these top-down standards, developed in secret and rammed through during the darkest days of the last recession, are under assault from students, parents, and teachers across the nation and proponents, unable to defend the largely indefensible standards, have taken to authoritarian measures to push back against criticism.

That's meant insulting critics as crazy people, saying some moms might not like the standards because they reveal their kids might not be as smart as the moms think they are, threatening to punch people in the face who criticize the standards, or intimidating teachers to keep quiet over poorly-designed CCSS tests by holding license revocations and criminal charges over their heads.

I can't imagine threats and intimidation are going to keep the standards in place for long - not with criticism and opposition to them mounting.

But the Common Core authoritarians certainly are going to try to bully, threaten and intimidate their way to Common Core nirvana.