CHENANGO COUNTY – The test refusal movement is sending a clear message to New York State legislators that something in public education needs to change, and with math testing set to start today, that message is expected to grow even louder.

According to New York State Allies for Public Education, more than 184,000 students from across the state refused the grades 3-8 English and Language Arts test last week, although the education advocacy group doesn’t expect final numbers to be tallied until this summer. The organization is counting the number of test refusals district by district; and to date, only 72 percent of districts have reported. With math testing that begins today, it’s anticipating even higher figures.

In Chenango County, no school has had a louder voice than Sherburne-Earlville, with a whopping 367 (or 64 percent) of its students refusing the ELA test. That might be attributed to teachers’ unions own objections to the test.

In January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed tying 50 percent of New York State teacher evaluation scores to test outcomes – a measure that passed with the state budget earlier this month. Since the governor announced his proposal, Sherburne-Earlville has staged several community forums and protests, garnering an extra boost from the New York State Unified Teachers union (NYSUT) as well as a strong grassroots local advocacy group.