The resistance to one-size-fits-all education is gaining steam. This is evidenced by the latest display of power from concerned parents who are saying no to the Common Core State Standards while the New York legislature fails to do so.
An excess of 175,000 parents in the state of New York alone decided to opt their children out of the Common Core testing system. Apparently they didn’t get the memo that their children are property of the state. A Washington Post report elaborates on this development:
New York State Allies for Public Education is counting opt-out students district by district, and in early afternoon Saturday, it had counted 177,249 with 64 percent of the state’s school systems reporting. Math tests are being given next week. Last year about 60,000-70,000 students — or less than 5 percent of the total — students opted out of Common Core math and ELA tests in the state; this year, so far, the group estimates that more than 14 percent refused the first Common Core test…
The opt-out movement has been growing around the country as fatigue with high-stakes standardized tests and their impact on public education escalates. Many parents, teachers, principals and even superintendents are expressing concern about the quality and validity of the assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards or similar standards, and the use of the scores to evaluate educators through assessment methods that experts have warned against using for such purposes.
This is how it’s done.
When the state legislature refuses to honor their oath to the Constitution and do what is right for liberty, take measures into your own hands. Don’t just wait around for the bureaucrats to see the light. In most states – you could wait forever. We have to be proactive in protecting for our liberty. That is the only way we can keep it.
James Madison wrote in Federalist #46 that the means to oppose tyranny are ‘powerful and at hand.’ In it, he recommended disobedience by states and individuals as an effective strategy to stopping government power.
The New York parents have proven that the Father of the Constitution’s words ring true today. We were never meant to accept unconstitutional federal behavior. Not by a long shot. We were meant to do whatever it took to preserve our rights. That is what being an American is all about.
Nullification is not a phenomenon limited only to state legislatures. It is a resistance technique that can take place at any level. From state nullification to jury nullification to opting out to civil disobedience to just plain saying no, this principle can be utilized in many different ways. And all of these techniques have the same effect: Grinding down the unjust system to a standstill.
We must take a lesson from these brave New York parents who have put the well-being of their children ahead of the government propaganda. Defeat is not an option. Our liberty is too important. We must kick, scratch, crawl and fight to the bitter end in all ways available to us. When states refuse to act, it is our duty to act boldly as individuals to combat all federal injustice.
