Opting Out and Acting Up: The Opt-Out Movement and Teachers' Strikes

• In Event: Marxian Analysis in the 21st Century: Educational Futures and Challenges

Abstract

Over the last several years, across the US, parents, teachers, students, and community members have risen up and pushed back against neoliberal education policies in ways not previously imaginable. In 2018, teachers went on strike in the four states we researched: West Virginia, Arizona, Oklahoma, and California. Simultaneously, parents are opting their children out of the required Common Core exams. In New York, over the last several years, approximately 20% of the students state-wide and 50% of the students in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island opted out. The authors’ research reveals that their success results from grassroots organizing using new social media, developing a large base of support and influencing policies vertically.

Authors

• David W. Hursh, University of Rochester

• Zhe Chen, University of Rochester