Washington parents stage Test-Out

by David Safier

What if they held Testing Day and nobody came? At an elementary school in Everett, Washington, 70 parents said their children weren't taking the yearly standardized test.

How did they do it? They just said, Our kids aren't taking the test. Give them an art or science project instead.

What was the result? It didn't affect any students directly, but the school might not make adequate yearly progress, which requires that 95% of students take the test. That's a problem for one school. But what if more parents in lots of schools say, "Hell no, we won't test!" — that they want to see the wasted time and wasted money (the article says the figure is $37.5 million a year in Washington, but I'm not sure that factors in all the costs) put back into educating their children. Maybe the state and the feds would sit up and take notice.

Parent power!