Martha Gertz pulled her kids out of statewide tests because she was fed up with the pressure — her daughter’s third-grade teacher stoked the class with candy at 9 a.m. and an administrator pressed her fifth-grader to take the test sick.
When Gertz’s daughters stopped taking the CSAP, a teacher forced one of them to sit in a corner, she said.
“They will all be proficient in correctly shading bubbles,” Gertz said. “But at what cost?”
The Centennial woman was among several parents who complained to lawmakers Monday about the negative score slapped on schools for students who skip the test. Fear of slipping in school performance ratings “brings out the worst in teachers and principals,” said Aurora mother Crysti Oliver.
The House Education Committee passed House Bill 1186 9-4.
It would remove negative scores given students who don’t take the CSAP — either because they are sick, on vacation or their parents are opposed.
Last year, 46 schools in Colorado dropped down a notch on the School Accountability Reports because of negative scores received for students whose parents opted them out of the test, according to the bill sponsor. The reports rate schools low to excellent based on test scores.
Critics of the legislation fear it will result in administrators discouraging low-scoring kids from coming to school during CSAP week.
“This fear is not unfounded — it comes from history,” said Ian Watlington with ARC of Denver. “It’s already hard to get people to realize the potential of people with disabilities.”
But supporters of the bill said current law is unfair to schools and inaccurate.
Rep. Judy Solano, the Brighton Democrat sponsoring the measure, said state law should not punish schools over a parent’s right to choose the best option for a child. “I’m trying to bring some fairness back into the system,” she said.
Performance ratings — now used by local chambers of commerce and real estate agents — are skewed by negative scores school administrators can’t control, said Dan Daly with the Colorado Education Association.
“I compare this to kicking your dog when your teenage son doesn’t take out the trash,” he said.
Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com
