What People Are Saying

What Education Experts Are Saying About
The Opt Out Florida Network?

• “I am thrilled to hear about the grassroots activism of The Opt Out Florida Network. Over-testing is destroying real education. The only way for parents to be heard and to protect their children is to refuse the tests. Your child is more than a score.”
  Diane Ravitch
• “The launch of The Opt Out Florida Network is a significant step forward toward developing statewide strategies and messaging for Florida’s assessment reform movement. The new connections should help build capacity for collaborative actions to roll back  the pervasive misuse and overuse of standardized exams that undermines educational quality in our public schools.”
  Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest
• “This Opt Out group saved my job.  When I refused to give the FAIR test to my Kindergarteners last year, they made my story public, and that’s when the voices of legions of parents stood beside me from across Florida and around the country.  Because of the parental pressure forced upon the state, Commissioner Stewart suspended the test I refused to give, saving six weeks of instruction time for all five-year olds in Florida. The icing on the cake was that my job was safe.  I am still teaching Kindergarten.  The Opt Out Florida Network works tirelessly to provide the wealth of knowledge and guidance, that parents need, to protect their children.  Opt Out supports teachers, parents and especially children.  The Opt Out Florida Network makes a difference and will force legislators to bring about needed change.”
  Susan Bowles, Kindergarten Teacher