It’s STAAR season. Will you stand up for children’s right to learn by boycotting the STAAR?
Opt-Out is a protest against the extreme misuse of standardized testing data to punish students, teachers, and schools. While low-stakes diagnostic testing is a meaningful component of a well-rounded curriculum, high-stakes testing is used to turn our schools into endless test prep factories, fire skilled and inspirational teachers, take over school districts, and worsen inequalities in communities that need us the most.
Read what one HISD parent wrote when he opted his third grader out of STAAR. It is from 2016, but it is as salient today as it was nine years ago.
Sign the opt out interest/confidential form.
- Read more about opt-out at optouttexas.net and FAQs [LINK here]
- Opt out Fact Sheet and Summary in English and Spanish [LINK]
- Opt out Letter in English and Carta de Opt Out en español.
- More at txedrights.net/opting-out-step-by-step/
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
- You have the legal right to refuse the STAAR and the BOY/MOY/EOY exams.
- Learning should be enjoyable. STAAR testing and endless test prep makes kids hate school and makes teachers leave the profession they love. Texas is too fixated on testing and accountability.
- Parents and teachers have a right to know! The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has even warned schools not to inform parents of their right to decline "required" tutorials and summer school (HB 1416.)
Please tell TEA to stop pitting schools and parents against each.
Upcoming events: Sign up at houstonCVPE.org/events.
- Sunday (3/30) 1-3pm: Help Stitching Together to knit squares for the anti-takeover art car and posters for the rally.
- Saturday, April 5th: Save Tx Schools Rally on Saturday, April 5th from 11:00am-1:00 pm. Buses leave at 6:30 am from the IBEW parking lot.
- Save the Date: CVPE General Meeting on April 19th at 12:30 pm.
News You May Have Missed!
- Houston ISD closed six locations providing free food to community members, citing lower demand, March 25, 2025, Houston Chronicle
- West Briar Parents Demand Action: 400 Sign Letter to Principal and HISD Leadership Addressing Staff Turnover and Alleged Bullying of Teachers, March 21, 2025, Houston Press.
- Houston ISD adopts new teacher evaluation system amid opposition, March 21, 2025, Houston Public Media
- HISD slashed staff helping students in need. Are kids ‘slipping through the cracks?’, March 20, 2025, Houston Landing
- Why the STAAR 'opt-out' movement stills exists today, 10 years after starting in Houston, 2/27/2025, Houston Chronicle
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