August 17, 2018 Dear Board of Regents, Chancellor Rosa, Commissioner Elia and Dr. Lisa Long, We find it reprehensible that under the guise of ESSA, NYSED is seeking to punish schools when parents exercise their legal right to opt their child out of the grades 3-8 state tests and is overreaching by requiring the collection…
By adopting putatively “new” standards and approving an ESSA plan that does little to move away from the test-based accountability that spurred hundreds of thousands of New York’s families to create and sustain the state’s historic opt out movement, the New York State Education Department and Board of Regents have effectively signaled that parents, educators, and school board members who value child-centered education must forge their own path toward that vision.
Dear Allies
Please Take Actionby URGING Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and the Board of Regents to include our Opportunity to Learn Index as the school quality indicator in the new state Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability system. ESSA requires states to rate schools on academic factors such as test scores and graduation rates, but also to include a nonacademic school quality, or student success factor, of their choice in the system. Please TAKE ACTION HERE.
To: Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and the NY Board of RegentsFrom: Class Size Matters & NY State Allies for Public EducationDate: February 15, 2017 As of now, NYSED, when calculating a school’s academic achievement in its ESSA accountability system, appears intent on assigning a “0” or “1” in proficiency to every student who opts out of the state…
August 26, 2016 MaryEllen Elia, Commissioner of EducationNYS Education Department89 Washington AvenueAlbany, New York 12234 Dear Commissioner Elia, New York State Allies for Public Education is a coalition of more than fifty parent and educator organizations from throughout the state. Class Size Matters is a parent advocacy group focused on reducing class size, increasing parental engagement and strengthening…
Dear Allies,In December of 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which requires that states develop a new accountability system for their schools. This new law mandates that schools be rated mostly on academic factors, including test scores and graduation rates. It ALSO allows the inclusion of a non-academic factor…