Don’t Let the Opt-Out of Common Core Testing Movement Fool You

by Lloyd Bentsen IV, NCPA, April 7, 2016

While the Common Core and its testing programs may have their issues, there exists a major national movement to end testing for students because they say that the testing has undermined schools, hurt students, is unfair, unreliable and an invalid method of assessing students’ abilities. The movement even goes on to say that the Common Core testing is “demoralizing” to teachers.

However, the real reason behind the Common Core Testing Opt-Out movement is because the testing is tied to teacher performance. Many teacher unions are flat out against this because they do not want their members held accountable.

At their national convention, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second largest teacher union in the United States, recently discussed how they would oppose and/or reform Common Core, having called for a moratorium on the accountability standards over a year ago.

Additional teacher union Common Core opposition includes:

• The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) would like to rewrite the Common Core standards as well as remove testing measurements that hold teachers accountable for student performance.
• National Education Association President Eskelsen Garcia brands value-added measures as a “mark of the devil.”
• Union leaders in Tennessee initially adopted Obama’s Race to the Top Initiative (thus receiving federal money); however the union has now called for a delay and even entered a lawsuit against the evaluation phase of the initiative.

While there are many people against the federal education initiative Common Core and for numerous reasons, teacher unions are against it because they do not want to have their members held accountable. Tying teacher performance to testing, might be one of the only good things about the federal initiative. However, when it comes down to it, Common Core is yet another failed federal education reform. The federal government should get out of the business of education and let the states handle it on their own.

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