“Choice” – It Is YOUR Choice Who Parents YOUR Child
We had to share this from a mom who is not going take it anymore and we want to encourage you to stand up too! This is in NY. And it begins….
On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 9:38 AM, (The Principal) wrote:
Good Morning,
I hope (child’s name) is enjoying the start of the school year.
In regards to your request, all students are expected to take the iReady Assessments. iReady will give us instructional information for students. There is no formal process for parents to refuse participation in academic testing developed and used by the District. Below is a link to additional information regarding iReady on the (School name) School District’s website. I understand you have also sent this request to (school district person’s name) however if you still have further questions please contact her office.
Sincerely,
(Principal’s name)
Principal
(School name) Elementary School
Sent from my iPhone”
The mother wrote responded:
“Good morning to you as well.
I’ll just dive right in – “expected” does not equal “mandated”, and even if it were mandated, I’d still refuse participation. You see, I am the parent and until some desperate attempt at legislating my rights away – my parental rights usurp what schools perceive as their rights over MY child.
Formal or informal, official or unofficial, the school does not dictate what I allow as I am the ultimate authority over my child.
She will not be participating in yet another experiment. You and I will have to navigate this together. Here’s looking forward to an amenable relationship as we both work towards the end goal of educating children – with the childs [sic] well-being the focus. We do not have to be adversaries. I’d much rather us partner together to navigate issues such as this.
Thank you for your response (which from the delay in timing, I attribute to you contacting school authorities and lawyers to make sure you’re protected). It is as I expected, and I don’t fault you for protecting yourself – just remember, when it comes to MY child, I am the ultimate authority, and I am well versed and current in the goings on in today’s education reform. I won’t be intimidated or scared into agreeing to do something I know is wrong.
iReady was piloted for a couple of months for a select few grades in a select few schools – where are the reports of that pilot? When was that presented to the community, or the parents, or our useless rubber stamping, NYSED water carrying board? It wasn’t.
When would you like to meet? I can meet any week day at 430…
With ultimate authority as a parent,
(Parent’s Name)
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
Here are KACC’s thoughts prefaced with the message that this mom above is spot on and we are proud of her for taking control and making clear what she will and will not allow. These are OUR kids and parents have every right to stand up and speak up for what they want and against things that schools should not be doing.
Per the principal’s comments, it’s not just academic testing, there’s NO process (formal or otherwise!) for parents to PARTICIPATE (choosing to OR refusing to!). PARENTS are RESPONSIBLE for directing the education of their child, NOBODY else! The overwhelming posture of the academic community is that those in education, from the USDOED and USDOL to State DOEs to elected officials to teacher unions to boards of education to principals and administrative staff, are exclusively responsible for a child’s education. Those in education don’t know what to do with a parent who even acts in a mode of responsibility toward her child. Responsible parents are instead demonized.
By design, God entrusted children to parents, to raise them to be God-fearing. (Those who think this is a “religious” statement cannot dispute the fact that children ARE born to a man and a woman—parents, not any other combination.) Children were not entrusted to the government or elected persons or teachers or unions or businesses or accountability metrics.
Parents need to write/scream whatever that they all want choice in their public schools—a choice between classrooms with chalkboards and textbooks and classrooms with only high-tech; a choice in whether to participate in any class, program, initiative, assessment, individual education plan, etc.; a choice in whether to have any information regarding an enrolled student shared beyond the enrolled school, including with the state. That message has not gotten through.
The only people who should have a “vested interest” in a child are the parents of the child. The parents should be the ONLY ONES to determine the child’s course of education. The parent/child must be the owners of the child’s intellectual property – this is in line with a person’s right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Anything less than this can only be viewed as THEFT, at a minimum. Note the principal’s statement, “iReady will give us instructional information for students” (emphasis added). The child AND his data are viewed by the school, et al, as belonging to the school to be used by the school, et al.
This parent’s communication is what needs to be promoted and happening in EVERY school in every state. Trying to work with presidential candidates, D.C. departments, elected officials, and school administrations hasn’t and won’t change anything without parents politely, but with absolute firmness and authority, declining to operate within the current flipped paradigm.
Kansans Against Common Core 