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Cuomo has come under fire in recent weeks after his budget included several items of education reform that stresses even further importance on state standardized testing, leading parents and educators to look into extreme measures, including opting out of testing, something that got Scarsdale in trouble in the past.
Paulin, who was one of the parents who opted her children out of testing in Scarsdale several years ago, has said districts need to exercise caution when considering what’s best for students.
“As a parent who opted out, I’m in a unique position. Scarsdale believes that state tests don’t live up to their tests, and we didn’t want to over test, so we boycotted,” she said. “Scarsdale was punished for years monetarily and we were buried in paperwork, and we achieved nothing.”
Under the reform, student state test scores count as 50 percent of teacher and principal evaluations, prompting Mary Beth Gose, Scarsdale Board of Education president, to note that “a single assessment cannot provide appropriate information about practice, and we encourage a system of evaluation that uses multiple points of data.”
Due to the emphasis on standardized testing, many parents have complained that it puts undue stress on students, who are forced to study intensely and intently if they hope to succeed, while teachers are forced to forego more creative ways of educating children and instead “teach to the tests.”
This emphasis has led to a nationwide movement that has seen teachers, parents and administrators alike teaming up to “opt out” of the exams by keeping them home on testing days.
“Coming from (the previous opt out efforts that failed), I’m going to keep an open mind,” Paulin said. “There is definitely a movement in Westchester County, and any reform we’ve seen is due to that efforts. There’s flexibility within the budget, we just need to educate ourselves on the law.”
The Scarsdale Forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, at the Scarsdale Public Library. The program will include speeches from the guests of honor, followed by a question-and-answer session.
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