Opt-out advocates attend Lee school board meeting

It is standing room only at the Lee school board meeting Wednesday, and dozens donned red to symbolize their stance against common core and high-stakes testing.

The flood of red represents various activist groups in Lee County, including Teaching Not Testing, Florida Citizens' Alliance and the Libertarian Party of Florida.

Because 33 people requested to give public comment tonight, each speaker only has one minute to voice their thoughts.

Chairman Tom Scott reminded the audience that school board policy prohibits booing, cheering and clapping. The audience, at times, could not help itself as citizens gave impassioned one-minute speeches.

Tess Brennan, one of the co-creators of the rally, said she was "cautiously optimistic" that the board would follow through with its desire to opt out.

"We're paying millions of dollars for teachers to check a computer screen to see if a student answered a question correctly," said Brennan, a former Lee teacher. "We want informative, non-duplicative exams. We want a test that is not a secret."

Her seven-year-old daughter, Coral, plans to speak at the meeting tonight. Coral Brennan said her F CAT score last year dropped significantly when she took a bathroom break.

"I felt like I had failed because most tests I get like a 99 or 98," Coral Brennan, 7, told the News-Press.

Before the meeting, a handful of activists meet in the parking lot with signs, chanting "hi ho tests must go."

Protestors were a mix of political activists and education advocates.

Matt Worley, the director at-large for the Florida Libertarian Party, said he was attending the meeting to stand up for citizens' liberties.

"According to the Constitution, the school board has every right to opt us out," he said. "If the kids are smart enough to only push buttons, this country is doomed."