Our kids education is wasting, stop waiting…

Veteran Buffalo teacher Jeff Grossi, aka MC ZiLL, struck a nerve with his last music video in January, in which defended his profession against a mounting political campaign to defund and delegitimize public education. 

He’s returned, again with his fiancé Katie Ann providing back up vocals, for produce a video that defends students’ rights to opt out of NYS assessments. The song’s chorus points listenters to nysape.org as an informational guide to the opt out process.

Our kids’ futures are in question
within the bubbles to be shaded with guessing,
decisions made by money motives
skipping educators.
Checking through your homework
about the quality of lessons,
having developmentally inappropriate sessions
kids are mentally and emotionally rejecting…

Many parents are being misinformed and sometimes bullied by school districts who claim that their school will lose funding if students refuse to take the assessments,” Grossi stated in a message to The Public. “This is 100% NOT TRUE!”

Skeptics of the opt-out movement often assume that teachers are against the testing process out of pure self-interest, but videos and statements like these serve as a reminder that teachers’ objection to the hyper-politicization of public education goes far beyond defending the union. Literally hundreds of hours of learning time are being spent preparing for standardized tests, including over a week’s work of testing,” Grossi wrote.

“While meaningful assessment is an essential component of a world-class education, the new NYS standardized assessments are aligned with unproven reforms neither supported by rigorous research nor vetted by educators and parents,” the nysape.org website reads.