Dive Brief:
- Washington Post columnist Valerie Strauss recently spoke with AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA General Counsel Alice O’Brien to find out if and how their unions would support teachers who opt out of high-stakes exams.
- While the leaders said their unions would stand behind teachers — both citing their support of Seattle teachers who said "no" to high-stakes standardized tests in January 2013 — they did not indicate how that support would manifest.
- Strauss' questioning comes in response to the revved up campaign by nonprofit United Opt Out National, which made a public plea for unions to support teachers who refuse to take part in high-stakes testing.
Dive Insight:
Refusing to take part in high-stakes testing can be scary for teachers, since they can easily be fired. While the number of parents saying no to testing is on the rise, teachers have more to lose. That is why United Opt Out National is asking for union support — the organization hopes the unions can help reduce some of that fear.
In order to understand the current climate, Stauss explained some of the recent historical events where teachers opted out of tests. The most famous, and perhaps earliest, incident occurred at Garfield High School in Seattle. Teachers said they would no longer administer the Measures of Academic Progress exam, arguing that the it was inappropriate and harmful for the students. The teachers were initially in jeopardy of losing their jobs — that is, until teachers at other schools also said they wanted to opt out. The district's superintendent went from threatening to suspend Garfield High teachers who were pushing back to agreeing to get rid of the requirement that high school students take the exam.
While it's unclear how the unions supported teachers during this, one could assume — since both union reps mentioned Garfield — that this is the type of support they plan to replicate.
