I read this blog post over at Edushyster about the opt-out of standardized testing movement, and Education Commissioner’s cancelation of further town halls, and couldn’t help but think about Camden: 

These citizens are sick of being treated as “consumers” and their children as “products” for whom education is “delivered.” When you treat people like consumers, you get a consumerist response. Angry consumers who want to make a point about something engage in boycotts. The testing boycott is about something larger than tests; it’s an expression of frustration at being excluded from a vital democratic process. The boycotts are last resort of people who feel the state and national departments of education are ignoring them and their children; it is the last weapon they have against this wave of corporate-inspired accountability reforms.

I think this will emerge as the biggest issue, not just in education, but in low-income cities more broadly. Where will citizens go to regain their democratic power after it is taken from them? In education, they’re moving to boycotts.

Tags: democracy, education, opt-out