New Hampshire parents, once again your rights are under attack by the Senate Education Committee.
The Senate Education Committee today voted 3 to 2 against parental rights (HB603) in New Hampshire. HB603 :
This bill declares that a student exempted from taking the statewide assessment by the student’s parent or legal guardian shall not be penalized. The bill also requires a school district to provide an appropriate alternative educational activity for the time period during which the assessment is administered..
HB603 would put into statute important legislation supportive of parental rights to opt out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment.
We know the numerous problems with the new Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA):
1) School Board Member and State Representative David Murotake testified that Nashua teachers said this about the SBA
a) totally grade level inappropriate
b) Seems the test was designed more as a psychological or sociological experiment, not as
a measure of academic learning
c) It is nothing less than child abuse for my special ed students in my classroom
2) According to Rasmussen: The Smarter Balanced Common Core Mathematics Tests Are Fatally Flawed and Should Not Be Used An In-Depth Critique of the Smarter Balanced Tests for Mathematics
3) Dr. Gary Thompson, License Child Psychologist calls the Common Core assessments: Cognitive Child abuse
4) Teacher in NY reports that the Common Core testing is child abuse
There is enough evidence to show that the Smarter Balanced Assessment should be halted in the state of New Hampshire. However since our Governor and her Commissioner ignore these warnings, it is up to the parents to step in if the school administrators will not.
Parents have the fundamental right to guide their child’s education and that is consistently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. However in this rush to chase federal dollars, concern for children is no longer taken into account. Yes parents, your children are now subjected to child abuse per trained professionals and medically licensed physicians so we can get our money back from the federal government. TALK ABOUT GREED.
HB603 is a valiant effort to ensure parents will have that right to refuse this abusive testing scheme.
Today April 28th, the Senate Education Committee voted “Inexpedient to legislate” on HB603. That means the majority, three of the five members, voted to KILL HB603 and deny you your parental rights. (Senators Stiles, Watters and Kelly) Why? Well as you can see in this video, Senator Stiles spells it out for you. She’s concerned about losing federal dollars.
Forget that this testing scheme may be harming children.
Forget that the Common Core math assessment is fatally flawed.
Forget that the questions are developmentally inappropriate for your children.
Forget that the Nashua teachers are warning parents about the serious problems with this assessment, Sen. Stiles makes it clear that her concern is over federal dollars.
So is she right? Does New Hampshire run the risk of losing federal dollars? And how much do we get annually from the feds? We all know how high our property taxes are each year and that’s where the majority of your school’s budget comes from.
On average schools receive less than 10% of their budget from the Feds. In other words, you pay over 90% through state and property taxes to your schools but your voice doesn’t matter. The feds pay less than 10% and that’s what Sen. Stiles is concerned about.
Since HB603 would put into statute a parent’s right to opt out of these bad assessments, let’s look at how that has impacted other states. Did they lose federal funding?
According to fairtest.org there is nothing to fear as Sen. Stiles would have you believe.
States, districts and schools sometimes claim they will lose federal Title I funds if parents, students or teachers boycott standardized tests required under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). As far as we know, no school or district anywhere in the country has ever been penalized for failing to test enough (95%) of its students. Further, seven states (Utah, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and California) have laws allowing opt out, and none have been sanctioned. Parents, students and teachers generally should not fear harmful consequences to their schools due to federal law if parents boycott standardized tests.
We’ve heard these threats before but where’s the PROOF? Where’s the proof Sen. Stiles that New Hampshire would lose federal dollars (OUR money) if we were to put in statute the parental rights we already posses?
Why are our elected representatives more concerned about pleasing the federal U.S. Department of Education bureaucrats more than the parents and residents who elect them?
We urge everyone to contact New Hampshire Senators and vote AGAINST the Committee recommendation to KILL HB603 and to support parents in New Hampshire.
Senators@leg.state.nh.us
