Public schools across the state could lose millions in federal funding for education if the current boycott of standardized testing continues, top educators warn.
More than 100,000 families across the Empire State have already opted out of the standardized reading exams that began Tuesday, according to one unofficial tally.
If those numbers are accurate, the federal government could move to enact a penalty on the state to withhold funds worth up to $900 million for city schools alone each year.
EDTIORIAL: HE ANTI-TESTING OPT-OUT DELUSION
Top city and state educators are considering the possibility. “We’re reviewing things,” said state Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch. “But we hope the federal government decides on another option.”
Critics of the Common Core exams believe they are too difficult and should not be used to evaluate teacher performance. They also believe the tests and prep take up too much time.
If more than 5% of kids sit out the high-stakes reading and math tests this week and next, a federal law could enable the U.S. government to begin a process of withholding funds for New York public schools.
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said parents have choices, but those choices come with ramifications.
“Parents will always have the prerogative to do what they want with their kids. . . . I don’t believe in opt-out for lots of reasons; it’s certainly not just about the funding,” Fariña told the Daily News after addressing a crowd of educators and parents Wednesday at St. John’s University on Staten Island. “But I’m certainly not going to take prerogative away from parents. . . . I would certainly caution people to think about consequences to actions, and there’s always consequences to actions.”
An official count of students who sit out the exams is still weeks or months away, city and state Education Department officials said. But early reckonings suggest opt-out numbers this year could exceed the threshold.
According to an unofficial tally by the anti-testing group United to Counter the Core, 112,763 students had opted out of the reading tests statewide as of Wednesday morning.
That’s roughly 10% of the 1.1 million kids in grades 3 to 8 who were expected to take the tests statewide this year. About 60,000 kids missed the tests last year.
U.S. Education Department spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said the boycott in New York is rooted in policy and politics, not kids’ experience in class.
“Much of what we are seeing in New York has been organized by those opposed to teacher evaluations,” said Nolt. “Not taking the test only hurts kids.”
At Castle Bridge School in Washington Heights, Principal Julie Zuckerman said parents are united against the tests at her small school, where all 17 third-graders boycotted the test.
“No one has lost any money yet,” she said. “It’s a myth they’re using to scare schools.”
With Erik Badia, Laura Bult, Glenn Blain
