The comment section of this article is what is so telling. Read the opposition of the bill in the OpEd, then read the comments. The responses evicerate the assumption that parents should NOT opt out of high stakes testing. (Select the link to see the comments. 

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/06/stand_for_children_to_gov_brow.html#comments

Stand for Children to Gov. Brown: Veto opt-out bill (OPINION)

By Toya Fick

To Gov. Kate Brown: The Oregon Education Association's bill encouraging students to refuse the statewide assessment heads to your desk after narrowly passing the Oregon House 32-28. Standardized tests are an accountability measure put in place to protect disadvantaged children. Federal law requires that states administer tests to at least 95 percent of students in order to objectively measure achievement and ensure children from all zip codes can access their civil right to a quality education.

When the U.S. Department of Education caught wind of House Bill 2655, they warned Oregon lawmakers that it violates federal law and could cost the state $140 million to $325 million in federal funding for schools.

Instead of taking the time to understand the bill's ramifications, legislators reacted by speeding it through the Capitol to your desk, fearing that increased comprehension of the bill could mean that more lawmakers would oppose it. This move convinces me that many in the Legislature value OEA's priorities over protecting our children.

In a speech before the Oregon House, Rep. Margaret Doherty, D-Tigard, reassured her hesitant colleagues with a colossal falsehood: The bill will "go into effect (in) the 2016-2017 school year, and so if there's any concern about the federal government not providing funds ... we will change it so we still get the money."

Truthfully, legislative counsel confirmed that aspects of HB2655 would go into effect in January of 2016, before legislators can address the potential loss of federal funding in the February 2016 legislative session. I am sure at least two more lawmakers would have voted in opposition to the bill had they understood that simple fact.

Doherty also said that the Legislature vetted the bill more than any other bill they heard on the floor. This is also untrue. Last week, Sen. Rod Monroe, D-Portland, commented on how the bill took an unusual detour around the Ways and Means Committee, despite it having a major funding impact. Simply put, lawmakers did not have clear and accurate information before voting in favor of the bill.

Further, if you sign HB2655 into law, our state takes a giant step backward to a time when we did not measure how students of color, poor students or special education students perform in comparison to other peer groups. Ironically, the majority of those currently refusing these tests come from wealthy, predominantly white neighborhoods, and not from the communities that stand to lose the most.

Recently, Betsy Hammond of The Oregonian/OregonLive, concluded that high achieving states took strikingly similar steps to achieve better outcomes than Oregon: "They set high academic standards, wrote rigorous tests and instituted meaningful consequences for schools and students. They provided strong, sustained political leadership in the face of pushback."

Oregon now has high academic standards and rigorous tests. Gov. Brown, it's up to you to provide strong leadership and protect those tests in the face of political pressure.

I strongly urge you to veto HB2655.

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Toya Fick is the executive director of Stand for Children Oregon. Stand for Children's mission is to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, graduate from high school prepared for, and with access to, a college education.

(To read the comment section you must select the link and scroll down to the bottom of the article to read the comments.)