BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Parent leaders of the movement to boycott New York's standardized tests say opting children out could do more for their education than the tests themselves. As English assessments are given Tuesday through Thursday to more than 1 million third- through eighth-grade students, tens of thousands of others are expected, with their parents' permission, to refuse to take them with the hope of eventually changing state policy. Parent critics and teachers unions say the tests and time spent preparing for them take away from creative instruction and that tying results to annual teacher and school rankings has only worsened the problem. "The connection between these tests and the teacher evaluations and the school evaluations has changed the entire culture of what our kids are experiencing in school," said parent Eric Mihelbergel, whose fourth- and seventh-grade daughters will sit out the tests in the Kenmore-Tonawanda school district outside Buffalo.