Negotiators trying to assemble a "grand bargain" to settle sales tax reduction, paid family, and medical leave benefits, and a minimum wage increase appear on the verge of receiving a piece of information that's potentially critical to their talks. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appears to be taking its full allotment of time to render a decision on whether a citizen-backed constitutional amendment imposing a 4 percent surtax on household income above $1 billion is properly certified for the November ballot, or should be discarded without a vote.
We are regularly told what the public or Congress or schools should do to increase school safety and prevent more school shootings. We even have a former U.S. Secretary of Education (Arne Duncan) suggesting that high school students not attend school until schools have been made safer for them. (See here or here.)
But no one tells parents how to secure greater local control than they now feel they have and change the conditions under which K-12 students are educated, tested, and evaluated in our public schools today. In fact, whoever wrote the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) seemed to be trying to discourage states from allowing parents to opt their children out of mandated federal/state tests even though parents have a right to do so and do not need permission from anyone.
