{"id":1271,"date":"2018-07-31T18:57:23","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T18:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniting4kids.com\/?page_id=1271"},"modified":"2018-08-02T20:12:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T20:12:48","slug":"testing-when-a-district-goes-too-far","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uniting4kids.com\/testing-when-a-district-goes-too-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing – When a District Goes Too Far"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Leah Acree entered her daughter\u2019s classroom for her regularly scheduled time to volunteer, she was surprised to find a coach from the Colorado Department of Education working with the children on assessments. After asking questions, she learned NWEA, Northwest Evaluation Association, was a test the children were taking regularly throughout the year. She wasn\u2019t ready for her young child, in the early stages of development, to be profiled. She was actively involved in her child\u2019s learning and she understood that teaching is far more important than testing. In response to her letter opting her child out of ALL state and district assessments, she was threatened by the district superintendent and received letters of intimidation from the school district\u2019s attorney. It takes a lot to stand up to the systems. With the help of Uniting4Kids, Leah exercised her parental rights of refusal, challenged the bullying tactics of administrators and reminded us all, when it comes to our children, we must never concede their well-being and future interests.<\/p>\n

The culmination of months of meetings and letter writing ultimately led a group of parents to the State Department of Education, where we met with the Commissioner to ask, \u201cHow has education gone so awry? And What can be done about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Below is the letter Uniting4Kids sent to the Colorado Department of Education that led to our meeting with the Commissioner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Colorado Department of Education,<\/p>\n

Thank you for following up on my request for a meeting with the Commissioner. Although I appreciate the invitation, I\u2019ve had multiple conversations with Ms. Z over the years via email and on the telephone. While she\u2019s always been cordial, Ms. Z has either never fully understood the line of parental authority or has not supported the right of refusal for parents opting out of standardized tests. Rather than another exercise in futility, I would like to document a recent incident in xxx District. As an education advocate, many parents have shared similar experiences and it has become common for district or school administrators to overstep the authority of parents when it comes to assessments. This letter represents both a formal request to the Commissioner and CDE as well as documentation of the events.<\/p>\n

As an education advocate, I work for the protection of parents to exercise their education decision-making authority without threats or intimidation. House Bill 15-1323, should have resolved any confusion regarding the rights of parents to refuse tests if they feel, for whatever reason, those tests to be counter to the interests of their child. Please reference House Bill 15-1323 22-7-1006.3. (1) (a), (8) (a), (8) (b), (8) (c)<\/p>\n

Recent events with (parent Leah) and School District , have made clear confusion that continues to exists within the Colorado Department of Education. Provided here as attachments are the communications that were provided to both Leah and the District administration.<\/p>\n

Summary of events:<\/p>\n