Opinion: State testing exposes public school crisis

This year’s state test results, once again, expose a public school crisis that we cannot afford to ignore. When only one-third of students are being taught to read and write on grade level, incremental gains are not enough. It is time for adults to put aside their political agendas and opt in to finding a solution on behalf of children.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio and his allies in the teachers’ union have focused on the performance of City Hall’s pet projects, including Community Schools and Renewal Schools. Unfortunately, of the 82 schools in the Community Schools program that include grades 3-8, 67 (or 82 percent) have more than half of their students scoring at Level 1 the lowest level in ELA and 73 (or 89 percent) have half of their students scoring Level 1 in math. In fact, only 9 percent of Community School students were proficient in ELA and math, far below the city average. Of the 63 Renewal Schools with grades 3-8, 56 (or 89 percent) have more than half of their students scoring in the Level 1 range in ELA and 60 (95 percent) have more than half of their students scoring in the Level 1 range in math. Only 8 percent of Renewal School students were proficient in ELA and 6 percent were proficient in math, compared to 30 percent (ELA) and 35 percent (math) citywide.

Results across the board show that our education system is failing far too many students. Roughly one-third of students statewide score at Level 1. Additionally, the achievement gap remains unacceptably high across the state. In New York City, only one in five black and Hispanic students are on grade level, compared to one in two white students. Performance in the three largest upstate cities is abysmal, with Rochester and Syracuse posting single-digit proficiency, and Buffalo only slightly higher.

As disappointing as these results are, they were exacerbated by the high rate of students who opted out of testing. This disturbing trend was engineered, in large part, by well-financed teachers’ unions as a way to push back against stronger teacher evaluations. The unions and their political allies exploited parents’ concerns about testing and confusion over the shift to higher standards as a means to protect their own special interests.

As a public school parent and an organizer who works closely with parents in low-income neighborhoods, I interact every day with the people who are hurt by the opt-out frenzy. For families in communities with failing schools, accountability and higher standards represent a lifeline for their kids. For them, opting out is simply not feasible – because the system has opted out on them for years.

Opting out impacts our most vulnerable children by obscuring the achievement gap, while sending a terrible message to students that it’s okay to just give up when things are hard. The data shows that the students who opted out were mostly white, and more than two-thirds failed last year’s tests. Ignoring these outcomes may serve the narrow political agenda of some adults, but it comes at the expense of children.

Five years ago, state education leaders took the first courageous step towards higher standards. Back then, the Common Core enjoyed wide support and even teachers’ unions saw it as a valuable tool that would help children learn. Along with these higher standards came transparency for parents and real measures of accountability for teachers – and that’s when the forces of the status quo started to mobilize.

The purpose of higher standards is to make sure that schools are providing our children with the 21^st century skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in college and beyond. Annual testing is one way to measure whether the system is working for kids – and thanks to testing, we know that two-thirds of students are not making the grade. When the system is failing so many children, it is time for adults to put politics aside and work together to improve our schools.

We owe children the opportunity to be taught by an effective teacher and we owe families more choices in where to send their kids to school. Real progress will take the commitment of all stakeholders, working together in the best interests of the people the system is meant to serve: students. 

Tenicka Boyd is the director of organizing for StudentsFirstNY.