Teachers Unions Line Up Against Common Core

2/4/14 9:02 AM EST

Two major teachers union locals have signaled solidarity with parents who refuse to let their children take state standardized tests.
The Chicago Teachers Union announced it would support parents who opt out of the Illinois State Achievement Test, a low-stakes test administered in elementary schools. It’s not used to measure student progress or school performance in Chicago, but students in the city — and across the state — must still take it over an eight-day period in early March. It “serves no purpose other than to give students another standardized test,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said. The union said teachers could better use the time on instruction.
Meanwhile, in New York, the state teachers union president criticized “sit and stare” policies adopted by a number of districts in response to the opt-out movement. The districts require students whose parents opt them out of standardized tests to sit in the classroom with nothing to do, rather than give them an alternative activity.
New York State United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi called the policy “unconscionable,” “spiteful” and “counter-productive.”
— Stephanie Simon

 POLITICO