text: NYSUT squares off against state Education Department on importance of test participation rates
  1of8Buy PhotoMembers of the New York State Education Department Board of Regents take part in a meeting on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
  2of8Buy PhotoNew York State Education Department Board of Regents member Kathleen Cashin addresses her fellow board members during a New York State Education Department Board of Regents meeting on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
  4of8Buy PhotoNew York State Education Department Board of Regents member Judith Johnson addresses her fellow members during a Board of Regents meeting on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
  5of8Buy PhotoNew York State Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia, left, addresses those gathered for a New York State Education Department Board of Regents meeting on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
  7of8Buy PhotoNew York State Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia, left, addresses those gathered for a New York State Education Department Board of Regents meeting on Monday, June 11, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa, right, looks on. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
  ALBANY — The state Board of Regents on Monday reluctantly moved forward on approving a new federally mandated public education accountability program, stressing however, that they are continuing to accept public comments until Aug. 18 and will issue final rules in September.
  "We still have a lot of questions,'' said Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa. "Let's keep the meter running. Let's keep the comments coming ... I don't think we are there yet."
  One reason for the caution is the continuing battle over opt-outs or students whose parents keep them home when the federally mandated Grade 3-8 math and English tests are given. The latest skirmish in that vein has pitted the state's major teacher's union, which remains wary of the tests, against the state Education Department, which is developing the rules.
  The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires that schools have a 95 percent participation rate in these tests. But in New York, the rate has been more like 80 percent, due to an active opt-out movement in which parents keep their kids from taking the exams. That movement was linked to an earlier plan to evaluate teachers based on student test scores. That's on hold, but the suspicion of standardized testing remains.
  The conflict was highlighted Monday in a back and forth between Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and union officials.
  The union, New York State United Teachers, contends that the proposed new rules take too narrow a view of the 95 percent participation rate. And they charged that the state is pressuring parents by suggesting that federal Title I money for needy schools could eventually be used to promote more test participation rather than boosting teaching programs.
  In a letter in May from NYSUT Vice President Jolene DiBrango, the union also charged that the state wants to give too much weight to opt-out rates when calculating a school's overall rating. Under ESSA, schools will have a 1-4 ranking, with schools that received the lowest two ranks facing numerous sanctions and oversight.
  Among NYSUT's criticisms: The new rules would make it hard for schools to work their way off the bottom rankings if they don't have 95 percent test participation rates.
  "The choice they are making is stigmatizing and penalizing parents who refuse" the tests, DiBrango said after Monday's meeting of the Regents P-12 committee. The full board is set to vote on the plans Tuesday.
  But Elia said they are simply trying to follow the federal regulations regarding test participation. ESSA is the successor to the federal No Child Left Behind Act instituted under Pres. George W. Bush, which first mandated the administration and tracking of standardized test results nationwide.
  "We have a federal law that we are working with," Elia said.
  "The assertion that schools could face financial penalties for low participation rates is patently false," Elia added in a prepared statement issued later in the day.
  "NYSUT is refusing to take 'yes' for an answer," Ian Rosenblum, executive director of Education Trust-NY wrote in a letter responding to the union's concerns. He explained that the proposed rules, after listening to NYSUT, were altered in a way that gives less weight to opt-out rates when calculating a school's overall ranking.
  Either way, the debate on mandatory testing hasn't cooled down and state officials said they expect a steady stream of comments throughout the summer.
  In other business, the Regents approved plans to switch to an hourly rather than daily measurement for the way schools meet their minimum mandated instruction times.
  While schools must currently offer 180 days of instruction, the new rule will require 900 hours for students in grades K-6 and 990 for higher grades over a 180-day period. The 990 hours is equivalent to 180 days of a standard 5.5 hour school day, but the hourly count gives schools more flexibility in meeting the goal. Schools, for instance could extend some of their days if they were coming up short due to unexpected disruptions like extra snow days.