In 2001, the President of the United State of America, George W. Bush, proposed legislation to start the “No Child Left Behind” act. The legislation was designed and written to attempt to aid children in disadvantaged communities and to reduce inequalities that existed within the public school system. Once the legislation was put into action later in 2001, the culture of primary and secondary education was altered drastically. The education system created a whole new means for assessing progress of students, teachers, and school districts as a whole. The main change came through the large increase of standardized testing. Standardized testing became the primary assessor of how well or poorly a school was performing. Over time, many Americans …show more content…
In 2015, New York State had an estimated 200,000 students opt out of testing. (Molly Jane Knefel, 2015) By opting out of taking tests, parents are hoping that the state will have to reform the structure of how they provide funding to schools. As it is now, it is obvious that the system is flawed and favors those who have more access to resources. The testing is promoting an ultra-competitive, market-based system where the rich stay rich, and the poor remain where they are. That is what parents are hoping to prove to lawmakers in New York when they have their kids opt out of state testing. It seems as though the “opt out” movement has had some success. In October of 2015, the current president of the United States, Barrack Obama, wrote an open letter to America’s parents and teachers. In the letter he stated “In moderation, I believe smart, strategic tests can help us measure our kids’ progress in school. As a parent, I want to know how my kids are doing, and I want their teachers to know that, too. But I also hear from parents who, rightly, worry about too much testing, and from teachers who feel so much pressure to teach to a test that it takes the joy out of teaching and learning, both for them and for the students. I want to fix that.” (Barack Obama,