Opting Out Part II

From KACC’s Lisa on OPTING OUT:

It (opting out) is stressful to me, too. I have been doing it for 3 years; and not just testing, but also opting out of nearly all things technology based. However, we have to because teachers and school district administrations are not applying any “critical thinking” in truly determining what is best for kids. (And, by the way, the schools consider YOUR kids to be THEIR kids. They operate the schools in a manner that elevates THEIR authority above parents.) Whether it’s because they are a newly minted product of our education system, or they just want to survive for themselves and their own families, the outcome is the same: the education of a child is the LAST consideration. Representation for the child is absent from the table. Parents are EXCLUDED and PUSHED OUT from being responsible for their child’s education. Every other “group” and “interest” has representation: teachers and other education institutions, business interests promoting their products and wanting worker bees, social agencies insisting their agendas be compulsorily pushed on every single child of our country, elected officials legislating greater CONTROL over people and using children to obtain and manipulate federal funds and promote their social agendas, and on and on.

And, everybody with a stake in education has deemed parents to be ill-equipped to understanding education. If I had a dime for every time a person in the education field asked me about my “background” in an attempt to try to discredit my questions regarding MY child’s education, I’d be in a much higher income level.

It’s YOUR child you are protecting. NOBODY or NO ORGANIZATION/AGENCY can better raise or make better decisions for YOUR CHILD than you.

When you press for accountability and answers from them, you will find THEY are the ones discredited. Parents have been incrementally and purposefully driven from being included and having responsibility for their children.

So….OPTING OUT and insisting on having a say in how your child is raised and education is what you HAVE TO DO. If you don’t EXERCISE your rights and responsibilities, you will LOSE them. IF YOU DON’T, you will wake up one day with NO ABILITY to decide what’s best for your child. My oldest child is almost 24 and my youngest is 9; our education system has moved significantly in the direction of parental exclusion from when our oldest was in kindergarten.

PLEASE, OPT OUT your children.

PLEASE, INSIST that your decisions regarding how your child is educated be complied with.

PLEASE, ACCEPT NOTHING LESS than full accountability. This includes everything from how funds are spent (state/local funding and PTO fundraising) to the explosion of technology in education (the results have not been proven and everyone else but you and your child are profiting from your child’s intellectual property).

It’s not bravery. You have no choice but to be what you are: THE parent. It’s the great and awesome blessing of being a parent. Your child has been given and entrusted to YOUR CARE and YOUR LOVE. They weren’t created by THE STATE; they were created from within YOU.

Gear up to Opt Out…Part I

I cannot believe I am typing this, but school is just around the corner. 😦

Registration is coming up fast (next week for many of us!) and it is the perfect opportunity for you to get your kid(s) OPTED OUT of state testing.

It is recommended that parents to do this at the BEGINNING of the school year. (YES, you can do it at ANY time, but the beginning is best.) We all know about the “big” tests in the spring, which are called “summative” tests. But, there are also many, many smaller tests throughout the school year called “formative” tests. So, it is best that you OPT OUT of all of it. It’s VERY easy to OPT OUT.

Just write a note to your principal(s) saying you want to OPT OUT your kid(s) from all state testing–both formative and summative.

It is also suggested that you request that no data about your kid(s) “leave the building” unless it is required by law.

If ever there is a question about what you will or will not allow your child to participate in, make sure that the administration and the teachers all know your contact information and encourage them to make contact with you so that you can gather the information from them that you need to make a decision about whether or not to allow it.