The following statement can be attributed to Jeffery Corbett, President of Oklahoma PTA. 

On Friday, July 10, delegates to the 93rd Annual Oklahoma PTA State Convention will consider a resolution calling for a boycott of non-federally mandated tests.

This resolution is a direct response to what our association is hearing from its members. Parents have had enough. Parents want more for their children than for them to be great test takers. The fact of the matter is this: our children deserve better.  

The call is coming around the county: Opt Out! In Oklahoma, we know what it is to respond to disaster-and it is time that we responded to the disaster that high-stakes tests have made of our public education system.

We are the parents and the teachers of the heartland. When things are damaged or destroyed, we don't wait for someone else to take care of us, we pull on our boots, grab our gloves and we get to work. It's time for us to apply that same resilient spirit to our public schools.

Earlier this year, our state legislators had the opportunity to remove or decrease a number of these tests. We encouraged them to do just that. We even rallied at the State Capitol to make certain they heard us. They chose not to listen. Our children deserve better, our teachers deserve better - the future of Oklahoma deserves better!

As the state's oldest and largest advocacy association dedicated to the education and welfare of children, we are called to take action. I am proud to be bringing this resolution to our delegates for consideration. If passed, it will be, to my knowledge, the strongest call to action against high-stakes testing that I have seen from any PTA across the country. Together, we will take our classrooms out of the wallets of the testing companies and turn them back over to our teachers.