Commentary: Albuquerque students have organized a Town Hall on standardized testing that will be held Wednesday,April 13th from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at the African American Performing Arts Center, featuring special guests Janelle Astorga, SWOP Intern and co-leader of the Albuquerque High School PARCC walk outs, and Jesse Hagopian, Author of "More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing". Other panelists include Maria Martinez of the ACLU, teacher Francesca Blueher, and parent Bernice Vazquez. There will be a panel discussion, Q&A and break-out group discussions, as well as free food for attendees
We will also be giving out 2016 Opt Out information - students may opt out of the PARCC exams at any time during testing.
WHAT: 'First We Walked Out, Now We Opt Out' Town Hall on Standardized Testing - Sponsored by SWOP, P-Tech, Working Classroom and Albuquerque CORE
WHEN: Wednesday, April 13th, 6 - 8 PM
WHERE: African American Performing Arts Center, 310 San Pedro Dr. NE
Last year, New Mexico students and allies organized statewide walkouts on the PARCC standardized testing regime. Those students served as organizers as well as messengers for various local and national media outlets, and as a result, our Governor’s administration scrambled to respond. Many of our students were publicly berated, diminished, and insulted after last year’s standardized testing walkouts.
One year later, after a massive national student movement, only a handful of states are still using the PARCC, and those that remain are implementing major changes and rollbacks. The youth organizing in New Mexico led to a major reduction in testing time. The corporate takeover of our education system was exposed, and rather than watching our 50th-ranked state get caught up in this massive system failure, our youth got ahead of the issue and changed the landscape in New Mexico. Now they are organizing with community members to decide the direction of their education movement.
This Town Hall, and the movement to eliminate PARCC, is just one part of the larger discussions we need to have about the future of our education system. Elimination of PARCC will help us all focus on our pressing education needs, which include better parent engagement programs, more culturally relevant coursework, and scholastic environments that are safe and nurturing for all of our students.
Learn more about educator Jesse Hagopian here.