PARCC Opt-Out May Cost Montclair Funding, Superintendent Says

During the Montclair Board of Education meeting on Monday, Schools Superintendent Ronald Bolandi had some bad news for the local PARCC opt-out movement… there may be consequences to the massive backlash seen in the district last spring.

At the meeting, Bolandi touched on two main points, both having to do with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers exam (PARCC), a touchy subject in Montclair, where almost half of all students in the district opted-out of PARCC testing this year.

• See related article: No PARCCing: Montclair Releases Final Refusal Totals 

GRADUATION REQUIREMENT

New Jersey’s high school students are now required to gain a minimum “passing score” on the PARCC to graduate, although the exact total of a “passing score” hasn’t been defined yet, Bolandi told meeting attendees on Monday.

However, there are alternative ways to satisfy this graduation requirement, Bolandi noted.

One method would be to achieve a passing score on a “substitute competency test,” including the SAT, ACT, ASVAB-AFQT, or Accuplacer – Write Placer and Accuplacer Math – Elementary Algebra exams.

Another method would be a vaguely-defined “portfolio review,” which Bolandi – a seasoned education administrator - said he didn’t quite understand.

The state’s new graduation requirements, which were announced in 2014 in a memo from NJ Commissioner of Education David Hespe, have come under fire from critics.

On Sept. 1, a group of New Jersey parents and students – backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Newark-based Education Law Center (ELC) – filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Education, protesting that the new graduation requirements failed to follow existing regulations or propose new ones under the NJ Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

• See related article: Stop Using PARCC and SAT For High School Graduation, N.J. Lawsuit Demands

FUNDING MAY BE WITHHELD

Bolandi also noted that the federal and state governments have suggested that funding will be withheld from districts where PARCC participation totaled less than 95 percent.

• See related article: Christie: Schools with High PARCC Opt-Out Rates May Face Slashed Funding, Higher Taxes

During the meeting, Bolandi stated that his options were limited when it came to state and federal funding and the PARCC.

“For his part, Bolandi made clear his unhappiness with the state’s practices, and he noted he was expected to sell enough families on the PARCC to ensure at least a 95 percent participation rate,” Baristanet reported.

Pictured above: Montclair Schools Superintendent Ronald Bolandi