The Movement to End Corporate Education Reform
United Opt Out National serves as a focused point of unyielding resistance to corporate education reform. We demand an equitably funded, democratically based, anti-racist, desegregated public school system for all Americans that prepares students to exercise compassionate and critical decision making with civic virtue.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, it is necessary to modify teaching methods. Many teachers and students are engaged in remote learning to protect the health and lives of those working in and attending public schools. Computer based teaching and learning has proven to be a necessity at this time, and as we realize the limitations of it, we realize it will never compare to face to face, brick and mortar schooling.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, it is necessary to modify teaching methods. Many teachers and students are engaged in remote learning to protect the health and lives of those working in and attending public schools. Computer based teaching and learning has proven to be a necessity at this time, and as we realize the limitations of it, we realize it will never compare to face to face, brick and mortar schooling.
Our MovementUnited Opt Out National, Inc. is registered as a nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Florida since the fall of 2011. As the opt out movement grows, we grow - sometimes in different directions and sometimes together - as we adjust to policy changes that impact our schools. We, the administrators of UOO, are now focused on the acquisition and the restoration of the civil and human rights for our public school communities, the students that attend public schools, the parents who send their children to public schools, and the citizens who support public schools via their time, efforts, and tax dollars. We advocate for and engage in acts of civil disobedience that ensure that our public good is protected and maintained.
Your VoiceWe continue to need your help, your support, and your voice in the battle to demand an equitably funded democratically based, anti-racist, desegregated public school system for all American citizens and residents that prepares students to exercise compassionate and critical decision making with civic virtue.
Visit the various pages. You will find links to Steven's blog. We also are including on the ground actions and stories of resistance that we want to share , and we want you to share your stories with us. These are your spaces to build! We ask that you email links and newsworthy items to unitedoptoutnational.org@gmail.com, and we will post them. We have a special gmail account for your stories of resistance. Click on that page for more information. Also, please send us state and district updates, links, or contact information relevant to opting out of state and district testing. |
Our Goals1. Push legislators to embrace "the original intent of Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which was to facilitate equitable, thriving, and successful public education for all schools via distribution of funding free of strings attached other than need and a comprehensive and viable game plan for success.
2. Push for the collection of data that reveals how resources are allocated to schools: funding, qualified instructors, textual materials, curricula, support facilities, diverse students and support staffs, and technology. Well resourced and integrated individual schools, districts, and states help to mitigate many of the harmful effects of racism and poverty. 3. Push for protections for quality pedagogy, the teaching profession, and public school funding that the newly legislated Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) attempts to tear down via the push toward isolationist computer based digital instruction that facilitates indoctrination, free for all data mining, and compromised cognitive, physical, and social development; the alternative teacher certification programs that place unqualified people in classrooms, and the unregulated charter industry that strips public schools of resources, increases segregation, and allows for theft of public money. 4. Continue the expansion of the Opt Out movement in communities that have not been largely activated though are the majority of those most badly compromised - non-whites, students with disabilities, second language, and the impoverished -with support from major civil rights groups whom we have helped to "see the light." 5. Facilitate election campaigns for school boards, federal and state legislative bodies, PTA /PTSA, union leadership, and local community leadership. 6. Devise a list of direct actions for local, state, and national public education advocacy. Over the last four years we have been successful in making Opt Out mainstream, and we have been successful in encouraging and supporting direct actions all across our nation. We will continue to engage in and encourage acts of civil disobedience as we fight to keep education a public good for all. 7. Join the campaign to fight Citizens United. We plan to organize and work alongside individuals and organizations who are fighting Citizens United. |