Oregon Department of Education Offers Manipulative Guilt Trip Along With Opt Out

The Oregon Department of Education has overstepped their bounds. It’s nothing new to see that the State Superintendent has requested a bill be in the legislature and it’s really nothing new to see that the Dept of Education is actually legislating and making policy that over step.

However, this time, it seems so egregiously done that it has to be talked about.

Oregon’s latest legislative session saw a bill put forth by Representative Lew Fredericks insuring parents’ right to opt their child out of standardized testing and forcing the schools to hand out information to the parents notifying them of their opt out rights.

Many parents were looking for their schools to begin handing forms out and waiting anxiously to fill out an opt-out form. Many parents ended up writing their own form and turning it in, much to the chagrin of principals and nonplussed front office ladies everywhere.

Finally, the Oregon Department of Education has released the opt-out form for schools to give to parents and it has many people raising their eyebrows.

At the bottom of the opt-out form created by the Oregon Department of Education is this bolded paragraph right above the signature line:

“I understand that by signing this form I may lose valuable information about how well my child is progressing in English Language Arts and Math. In addition, opting out may impact my school and district’s efforts to equitably distribute resources and support student learning.”

Wow. Manipulative? Yeah. Sending you on a guilt trip? Yup. Unprofessional? Yes. A lie? Completely.

Opting out does not affect a school’s ability to “equitably distribute resources” because they can already distribute that money equitably. What they mean to say is that if your kid is not taking the test and would be a candidate to receive a low score then the school won’t get the extra money they would receive from the state for a “special needs” child.

It’s all about the money. I hope that parents see that the Oregon Dept. of Ed is overstepping their bounds and trying to undermine the legislative process. They’re subtly using coercion and overtly using manipulation and guilt to get their way.

Refuse to go on that guilt trip and tell them what they can do with their test!