A proposed federal education regulation, which would strip Title I funding for public schools with excessive opt-out rates of standardized testing, has ignited opposition from parents, lawmakers and education professionals in Westchester County.
Following an Aug. 1 deadline for public comments, the U.S. Department of Education began a final approval process to amend the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA, which was passed by Congress in December 2015.
The Department of Education’s proposal to amend ESSA would label most Westchester public schools as “in need of improvement” and would cut federal funding for any school where 5 percent of students or more opt out of Common Core testing. The controversial Common Core State Standards Initiative, which highlights what students should know in English language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade from kindergarten through 12th grade, is currently authorized in New York state until 2022.
“I find the regulations troubling,” said Dr. Brian Monahan, the interim superintendent of the Rye City School District. “Parents made individual decisions based on what was right for their children.”
Despite the lack of notice for public comment, however, the Rye City School District will not directly get involved with the proposed legislation, according to Monahan, but will keep a close watch on it.
The federal act was drafted by U.S. Secretary of Education John King, the former New York state education commissioner, following the repeal of the No Child Left Behind Act on Dec. 10, 2015.
The No Child Left Behind Act previously required all public schools receiving Title I funding to administer statewide standardized testing with the stipulation that students make “adequate yearly progress.”
For example, each year’s fifth graders must score better than the previous year’s fifth graders, or the federal government would step in and set mandatory improvement plans.
Parents and local school administrators have panned the Common Core testing, arguing that it takes the learning out of the classroom by setting unrealistic educational guidelines for success due to the high rate of failure on standardized tests.
Linda Banta, a Larchmont resident with two children in public schools who joined a rally against the regulation on July 29 held by state Senate candidate Julie Killian and congressional candidate Phil Oliva, both Republicans, said, “It’s alarming that the federal government announced something in the middle of summer that could so adversely affect our schools and economy.”
If the proposal is approved, Killian, a member of the Rye City Council, said that Westchester residents would ultimately be punished for exercising their right to withhold their children from the Common Core tests.
“This proposal could single-handedly damage all that our students, teachers and families have worked for,” she said.
While the final approval process for the proposed amendment began on Monday, Aug. 1, there is currently no set timetable for when a decision will be reached.
According to Oliva, who currently serves as senior advisor to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, the Department of Education has kept the amendment in total secrecy. “I guarantee 99 percent of parents in Westchester County don’t know about this,” he said. “We only found out about it by luck.”
Oliva also stressed that the proposal, which would go into effect at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, if approved, would also result in property depreciation.
Meanwhile, state Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat, has long been a vocal critic of the practice of standardized testing.
“The opt-out rights of parents to do what’s in the best interest for their child should absolutely not be manipulated by the federal government,” he said.
Following the 2012 rollout of Common Core, Latimer made an effort to explain his opposition to the initiative to King, the state education commissioner at the time, saying that he was “convinced we’re heading down the wrong path [for education].”
Latimer is running for re-election to the state Senate this fall and will be facing off against Killian.
