This past school season, students opting out of Common Core testing had a significant impact in New York state schools, leaving districts with a dilemma when it comes to grant money provided by the federal government.
This however, might be a first.
Long Island teacher Beth Dimino, is opting herself out of the Common Core curriculum, refusing to administer the tests to her students.
Via the Long Island Press:
Beth Dimino, an eighth-grade science teacher in the Comsewogue School District and president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, will be the first Long Island teacher to “opt-out” of administering mandated state standardized tests this April.
An outspoken opponent of the Obama administration’s controversial Common Core education reforms—new academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA) rolled out nationwide last year that have sparked protests among countless students, parents and teachers across Long Island and the country—Dimino was just one of several local school officials, elected officials, parents, and nonprofit leaders who railed out against the program at a rally last March at Comsewogue High School attended by hundreds of “Opt-Out” supporters.
More than 20,000 LI school children refused to take the state tests last April. No local teacher, however, has gone so far as Dimino to publicly voice his/her intention to refuse to even proctor the exams. She tells the Press her unprecedented decision is simply a matter of conscience …
She added that she believes if others joined her in doing away with the Common Core testing, it would “cause this entire nonsensical system to implode.”
Dimino is a 16-year science teacher in the Comsewogue School District. She made headlines in 2013 when she described the Common Core curriculum as a form of “child abuse.”
Will her tactics work? Should more teachers opt out of Common Core testing in an effort to implode the system? Tell us your thoughts below…
