It is the height of arrogance to come up with a board policy that strikes at the heart of parental rights. Especially for a school that goes by “choice theory”. Campus Community School, a charter school in Dover, wrote a policy which explicitly states all students must participate in the Delaware State Standardized Assessment. Currently, this is the Smarter Balanced Assessment. I know Campus Community had one opt-out. What this policy does not explicitly state is what happens if a student does not participate. To me, that is just bullying and intimidation if you are going to throw that out there like that. I heard from people that it would be a bad time to opt their kid out because of their charter renewal. I don’t have much sympathy for that statement.
When are these schools going to learn that if a parent does not want their child taking this test, and they have the courage and strength to opt their child out, no matter what, there is nothing they can do to stop them. If people in Delaware thought opt-out was big last year, just wait and see what happens next Spring. You can’t imagine…
In the meantime, take a look at the anti-opt-out measure this school has taken. All I can say is good luck with that! Later today, this school faces the Charter School Accountability Committee at the Delaware DOE for their charter renewal. I’m sure they will get kudos from them for their strong stance against parent opt-out…
