“Bald Piano Guy” is a New York teacher who sings “Opting Out” to the tune of Billy Joel’s “Moving Out,” and sings “Seen Them Opting Out on Broadway” to the tune of “Seen the Lights go out on Broadway”. He sings “The Arrogant Man” dedicated to NY Governor Cuomo, to the tune of “Angry Young Man”. He has many more YouTube performances but I’ll share just a few here.
I appreciate “Bald Piano Guy”! I also feel jealous of the passion and care that New Yorkers and parents in many other states seem to have for honest education; they seem to have many more people on the ball about fighting for their rights of liberty than we do in Utah. While New York opt outs are angering Arne Duncan and making headlines with hundreds of thousands of opt outs, and while zero juniors showed up to take the Common Core SBAC test at Seattle High School, here in Utah, opt out numbers are low and the State Office of Education pooh-poohs the concerns, research, and even the political rights of teachers and parents.
Hats off to this teacher, who chooses to be simply: “Bald Piano Guy”.
New York and “Bald Piano Guy,” I feel you!
Pay attention to the lyrics of the last song especially:
“Just like the Battle of Saratoga turned around the American Revolution, the revolution against standardized testing began in New York State….
I’ve seen them opting out on Broadway from Babylon to Buffalo. Parental anger up in Albany; they chased the Senators to the stop at Ramapo.
They tore the Common Core in Plattsburgh and threw the tests into Oyster Bay.
The governor lost his clout the day they opted out.
And schools could live another day
… They slam-dunked Pearson there in Syracuse.
They never made a truce
with children’s lives at stake.
They all refused the test in Lockport and Rockville Center rocked with rage.
Assemblymen took flight
when parents showed their might
and shredded booklets page by page.
You know they opted out on Broadway. But those refusals meant much more.
It’s ’cause America took note of this
and forced the government to kill the Common Core.
When parents stand up for their children
how can opponents still survive?
We’ll tell the world about
the way we opted out
and kept our public schools alive
…. Agree or disagree with opting out, the power of a parent can spark a revolution.”
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National Opt Out Movement Update:
Bob Schaeffer, of Fairtest.org in Colorado, again provided the following links of news updates about the national opt out movement:
U.S. Opt-Out Movement Explodes, Test-and-Punish Empire Strikes Back
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-guisbond/the-testing-optout-moveme_b_7222544.html
Federal Education Department Disinformation Campaign Seeks to Quell Opt-Out Movement
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/06/education-dept-disinformation-aims-to-quell-opt-out.html
Arizona Seven Schools Implicated in Exam Cheating Scandal
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/05/11/did-seven-schools-in-arizona-cheat-on-high-stakes-tests-and-is-it-really-only-seven
California Standardized Testing Sparks Backlash
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/california-standardized-tests-spark-backlash-in-oakland/Content?oid=4269257
Colorado Legislature Passes Modest Assessment Reform “Compromise” in Final Hours of Session
http://co.chalkbeat.org/2015/05/06/testing-agreement-comes-in-sessions-final-hours/#.VUqwtEZLUZw
Connecticut Officials Confuse Parents About Test Opt Outs
http://jonathanpelto.com/2015/05/06/on-common-core-sbac-still-left-asking-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-these-people/
Delaware House Overwhelmingly Supports Opt-Out Rights
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/education/2015/05/07/house-passes-testing-opt-legislation/70966896/
Florida Ongoing Computer Testing Programs Disrupts School Schedules
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-computer-testing-schools-20150505-story.html
Florida Elected Officials Don’t Subject Their Own Kids to the Standardized Exam Frenzy They Mandate
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-florida-school-testing-scott-maxwell-20150507-column.html
Georgia Exams Leave Some Feeling “Testy”
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/26615357/article-Georgia-Voices–Exams-have-some-feeling-testy
Atlanta Test Cheating Hurt Students’ Reading Performance
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2015/05/atlanta_schools_test-cheating_.html
Louisiana Testing Overkill Drives Veteran Teachers Out of the Profession
http://www.katc.com/story/29029794/lack-of-education-veteran-educators-walk-away-from-the-profession
Massachusetts Teachers Say PARCC Test is “Bar to Real Work”
http://www.cambridgeday.com/2015/05/06/teachers-renew-efforts-against-parcc-test-as-bar-to-real-work-student-has-other-way-to-reduce-stress/
Mass. Teachers Association Supports Parental Opt-Out Rights
http://massteacher.org/news/archive/2015/annual_meeting_coverage.aspx
Maine Legislature Hears Bill to Eliminate Smarter Balanced Test
http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/education/2015/05/11/state-test-bills/27136703/
Michigan District Super and PTA President Outline Five Ways to Improve State Assessments
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/05/5_ways_to_improve_standardized.html
Mississippi Educators Protest Politically Set Test-Score Cutoff That Could Hold Back 6,000 Third Graders
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/05/07/nearly-6k-could-repeat-third-grade/70947606/
Montana State Testing Will Not Come Close to 95% Participation
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/5/montana-unlikely-to-meet-test-participation-requir/
New Hampshire Parents on a Mission
http://www.ledgertranscript.com/home/16720744-95/parents-on-a-mission
New Jersey Students Share Thoughts on PARCC
http://www.app.com/story/news/education/in-our-schools/2015/05/08/students-parcc/26980093/
New York English Language Arts Test Opt Outs Topped 205,000 Statewide
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/t2_8Bg3h8mqx6Ax8rwGG5Mw/htmlview
N.Y. Educators Have Lengthy Grievance List Against State Assessments
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/233549/educators-have-lengthy-grievance-list-about-evaluations/
North Dakota Computerized Testing Glitches Hurt Students
http://www.grandforksherald.com/opinion/our-opinion/3742822-our-opinion-testing-glitches-hurt-students-common-core
Ohio Super Says K-3 Literacy Test Scores Are Unfair
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/news/local-education/literacy-scores-unfair-springfield-superintendent-/nmCYZ/
Oklahoma School Testing Error Affecting Thousands of Students
http://www.newson6.com/story/28985864/oklahoma-school-testing-error-affecting-thousands-of-students
Pennsylvania Overhaul of Federal, State Laws Needed to Curb Testing Frenzy
http://thenotebook.org/blog/158537/nclb-rewrite-relieve-standardized-testing-abuse-opt-out-frenzy
Pennsylvania Keystone Exams Are One Big Headache for Students
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-lehigh-valley-keystone-project-based-assessments-20150509-story.html#page=1
Texas Governor Signs Law Exempting Thousands of Seniors From Graduation Exams
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20150511-abbott-signs-bill-exempting-thousands-of-high-school-seniors-from-graduation-exams.ece
Vermont Testing is Profitable But Not for Students
http://www.vnews.com/home/16811190-95/steve-nelson-testing-is-profitable-but-not-for-students
Virginia Parents Learn How to Keep Their Kids Out of Standardized Tests
http://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2015/05/06/in-a-season-of-testing-how-to-avoid-them/70901846/
Virginia is Sadly Obsessed With State Testing
http://www.newsleader.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/05/09/sadly-obsessed-sols/27062009/
Washington Students Protest Common Core Exams
http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/Students-protest-Common-Core-testing-302683131.html
Maryville, Washington, Teachers Hold One-Day Strike Over Funding, Testing
http://www.marysvilleglobe.com/news/302779281.html#
Wisconsin State Legislature Advances Bill to Make Opting Out Easier
http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_28068256/wisconsin-bill-would-make-opting-out-school-tests
Contact U.S. Senators for Less Testing, More Learning
http://www.fairtest.org/roll-back-standardized-testing-send-letter-congres
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As I’ve said before, please be wise and very careful about what happens in each of our states as a replacement for high stakes testing. The controlistas love to take a crisis and turn it to their own advantage.
In Utah we are on another brink of doing something exceedingly stupid right now: Utah’s legislature has created a task force that will promote the idea of stealth assessment, or embedded, hidden tests in assignments. This absolutely kills privacy and kills parents’ ability to opt out or even to know when tests are happening at all. Think I’m kidding? Rep. Marie Poulson’s resolution passed this last legislative session. See line 66 and ask your legislator exactly what it means.
COMMON CORE 