The Rochester Teachers Association says it has filed a class action grievance against the school district after an email was sent out to school principals by the district’s chief of elementary schools, Beverly Burrell-Moore.
In it, Burrell-Moore asks the principals to identify teachers who have sent letters or made phone calls to parents encouraging them to opt out their children from the NYS Assessments. She also asked them to identify teachers who have utilized their classrooms as “political soap boxes.”
RTA President Adam Urbanski calls the email a “blatant attempt at intimidation and an infringement on teachers’ rights and academic freedom.” He says that the tests “being now imposed on students are educational malpractice and should be objectionable to teachers, parents and all others who care about students.”
District Superintindent Bolgen Vargas issued a statement in response, saying that he recognizes some people have strong opinions about the tests and believe that parents should have their children opt out. He says although he respectfully disagrees with that opinion, he recognizes the right to express it. Vargas says no teacher or other staffer will face any consequences for expressing their personal views.
Vargas does say he has heard from parents that a small number of teachers used class time or school resources to recruit students and parents to opt out. He says that would violate education law and is something the district would be required to address.
Vargas also says that he apologizes if the email from (Burrell-Moore) was interpreted as intimidating or offensive in any way.
