Opt Out! Understanding Resistance to the Common Core's Testing Regime Through Political Spectacle

The standardized testing regime begun under No Child Left Behind and continued with the Common Core is being challenged. Opt Out is a national movement in which parents refuse to have their children partake in state mandated tests. This case study examines the Opt Out movement through the lens of political spectacle which suggests public policy is largely formed through dramatic public acts that reinforce existing inequalities. Arguing that Opting Out is inherently a dramatic public act, the study examines the Opt Out movement’s impact on legislative educational policy formation in the State of Arizona. Opt Out legislation and texts formed from the accompanying legislative debate, relevant media, and interviews with legislators are critically analyzed to further explain the mechanics of political spectacle. Theoretical aspects of political spectacle such as the current political spectacle framework and current methodological issues involved with the theory are also critiqued with possible solutions proposed