New Jersey Schools with High PARCC Opt-Out Rates May Face Slashed Funding

The statewide PARCC opt-out movement may come with a price.

In a recent Star Ledger report, state education commissioner David Hespe said that schools that fail to meet the federally mandated 95 percent participation rate for the PARCC test will face potential federal and state funding cuts.

According to the report, Hespe said funding cuts wouldn’t be automatic:

“Before levying any additional sanctions, the state would take into account whether this is the first year a district missed the 95 percent target, how much it missed it by and whether the school took actions either to prevent or promote opt outs.”

During a Town Hall appearance on Thursday in Cedar Grove, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – whose hometown, Livingston, reported a one-in-four refusal rate - told a packed auditorium that the PARCC opt-out movement will have ramifications beyond his control.

“It’s their right if they want to opt out… There’s nothing I can do to stop them,” Christie said. “But then don’t come later and complain you don’t get the money that you’re used to.”

LOCAL OPT-OUT RATES

In Millburn, 322 out of 3,387 students – or about 9.5 percent – opted out of the test.

Several other Essex County school districts saw significant resistance to the exam:

• In Montclair, 42.6 percent of students in the district opted out, including 68 percent at Montclair High School.
• In Belleville, 316 students refused to take the exam.
• In the Caldwells, the West Essex Regional K-12 School District saw 80 refusals among the 1,070 students enrolled at the high school, and 50 refusals among the 590 students enrolled at the middle school. In addition, 220 students out of the 2,650 enrolled in the Caldwell-West Caldwell school district opted-out of the exam.
• In Livingston, 1,130 out of 4,100 students refused to take the exam.
• In Nutley, about 45 to 50 students opted-out of the exam.
• In Cedar Grove, about 92.5 percent of students in grades 3 to 11 took the test.
• In Bloomfield, about 156 out of 6,200 students opted-out of the test.