Opting Out: The Story of the Parents' Grassroots Movement to Achieve Whole-Child Public Schools

The rise of high-stakes testing in New York and across the nation has narrowed and simplified what is taught, while becoming central to the effort to privatize public schools. However, it and similar reform efforts have met resistance, with New York as the exemplar for how to repel standardized testing and invasive data collection, such as inBloom. In New York, the two parent/teacher organizations that have been most effective are Long Island Opt Out and New York State Allies for Public Education. Over the last four years, they and other groups have focused on having parents refuse to submit their children to the testing regime, arguing that if students don’t take the tests, the results aren’t usable. The opt-out movement has been so successful that 20% of students statewide and 50% of students on Long Island refused to take tests. In Opting Out, two parent leaders of the opt-out movement―Jeanette Deutermann and Lisa Rudley―tell why and how they became activists in the two organizations. The story of parents, students, and teachers resisting not only high-stakes testing but also privatization and other corporate reforms parallels the rise of teachers across the country going on strike to demand increases in school funding and teacher salaries. Both the success of the opt-out movement and teacher strikes reflect the rise of grassroots organizing using social media to influence policy makers at the local, state, and national levels.

Perfect for courses such as:
The Politics Of Education | Education Policy | Education Reform
Community Organizing | Education Evaluation | Education Reform | Parents And Education

David Hursh began fighting for democratic schools when he was a university undergraduate, much of which is described in High-stakes Testing: The Decline of Teaching and Learning. He has written over 100 journal articles and book chapters on topic including social studies, teaching about environmental health, action research, and higher education.

Jeanette Deutermann is the founder of Long Island Opt Out and co-founder of NYS Allies for Public Education. She has been named on the Long Island Press top 50 Power List in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017, and has received “Woman of Distinction,” “Woman Trailblazer,” and Bellmore/Merrick Central HS “Friend of Education” awards.

Lisa Rudley is a founding member and volunteer executive director of NYS Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE). She currently lives in Briarcliff Manor, New York, with her family. She serves as the President of the Ossining School District board and is a Senior Account Executive at Passport for Good. Lisa holds an MBA from Fordham University.

Zhe Chen is an international student from China pursuing doctoral studies in Teaching & Curriculum at the University of Rochester. She holds two master’s degrees, one in International Education from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the other in Education Policy from University of Rochester.

Sarah McGinnis earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from Houghton College and completed her Masters in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester. She has worked to gather (research/ stories/data) around the opt-out movement in New York State.