Resisting the neoliberal: parent activism in New York State against the corporate reform agenda in schooling

Over the last two decades, parents and community members in New York have increasingly resisted the neoliberal corporate reform agenda in schooling, including rejecting high-stakes testing. The parent-led opt-out movement in New York State has successfully opted around 20% of eligible students out of the Common Core state standardized tests over the last three years. To understand how a parent-led grassroots movement has achieved such political success, this chapter focuses on the two most influential opt-out organizations in New York State, the New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE) and Long Island Opt Out (LIOO). The chapter investigates how they used social media and horizontal grassroots organizing strategies to gain political success, along with vertical strategies pressuring the legislature and Board of Regents. Our research reveals that parents in New York are reclaiming their democratic citizenship role in influencing their children’s public schooling and rejecting the corporate reform agenda.