PARCC Law Passes In NJ: Schools Can't Be Penalized For Opt-Outs

Did your child refuse to take the PARCC exam last school year?

There’s a good chance that it won’t hurt the school district’s funding, due to a new state law passed on Monday.

The text of the law reads:

“This bill prohibits the Commissioner of Education from withholding state school aid from a school district based on the participation rate of its students on the state assessments. Recent media articles indicate that the commissioner has suggested the possibility of withholding state aid if a significant share of students in a district do not take an assessment. This bill would prevent districts from being penalized for matters beyond their control.”

The law’s primary sponsors – Nia Gill (D-34) and Shirley Turner (D-15) – introduced the original State Senate bill in May, after Governor Chris Christie told a packed auditorium in Cedar Grove that school districts with high PARCC opt-out rates may face reduced state funding.

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

Christie had apparently offered the warning in support of State Education Commissioner David Hespe, who announced in 2014 that schools that fail to meet the federally mandated 95 percent participation rate for the PARCC test would face potential federal and state funding cuts.

Despite his warning, Christie signed A-4485 into law on Nov. 9.

It had previously been passed in the State Assembly on June 6, and in the State Senate on June 29.

WHO OPTED OUT OF PARCC IN ESSEX COUNTY?

Several Essex County school districts saw significant resistance to the PARCC:

• In Montclair, 42.6 percent of students in the district opted out of the PARCC exam, including 68 percent at Montclair High School.
• 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 Belleville, 316 students refused to take the exam.
• In Millburn, 322 out of 3,387 students – or about 9.5 percent – opted out of the test.
• 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.

File photo: Chris Christie