Thousands of high school seniors from across Colorado put down their pencils and picked up protest signs to boycott the state’s new standardized tests in social studies and science.

The boycott is the latest skirmish in a long-running battle around the country against an overemphasis on standardized testing, which has united families across the political spectrum.

Colorado students were supposed to have taken the tests on Nov. 13 and 14 but many classrooms remained empty. Nearly 40 percent of seniors statewide joined the boycott.

Seniors at Fairview HS in Boulder spent the time allotted for their tests outside with picket signs that read “Education, not standardization” and “The man can’t keep me down.” And students from 12 high schools in the state wrote a joint open letter to the state’s citizens that called for a reduction in standardized testing.

“While Colorado has cut spending for schools, it continues to spend tens of millions of dollars on standardized testing each year,” the students wrote. “We have been subjected to larger class sizes, cuts to art, music, and extracurricular activities, and fewer opportunities in school. Our reward for putting up with these difficulties is more standardized testing with questionable purposes and monetary costs.”

Taking Note, Nov. 17
Denver Post, Nov. 14