Parents Boycotting Field Tests in Protest of Over-testing

Parents and Teachers say Tests Take Away from Learning

After years of letting for-profit testing companies use their children by over-testing them to put more money into their pockets, parents representing an unprecedented 59 schools are finally fighting back.

They have decided to keep their children away from “stand-alone” field tests which have no benefit other than to provide revenue and information to the testing company.

In support of the parents the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC) passed a resolution on May 31st which urges parents to choose not to allow their children to be tested. Community Education Councils (CECs) of Manhattan’s District 3 on the Upper West Side, and Brooklyn’s District 20 which includes Kensington, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Borough Park, also passed resolutions favoring the boycott.

“All this testing is out of control,” says Dani Gonzalez, a Bronx parent who is protesting the excessive testing. “Real learning happens when children can explore and experiment and do projects, when they can read books and discuss them. All this testing is crowding real learning out of the classroom. My children can’t learn when all they do is prepare for tests and take tests.”