California Teachers Association
1325 "S" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cta.org
Contact: Becky Zoglman, 916-442-5895 or Mike Myslinski, 650-552-5324
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SACRAMENTO - A new bill sponsored by the California Teachers Association will streamline and improve the state's jumbled testing system, aligning it with new federal testing guidelines required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and freeing up more time for student learning.
"This bill is the first step to bringing some common sense to California testing and assessment system," said Wayne Johnson, president of the 330,000-member California Teachers Association. "It would also save the state millions of dollars during this budget crisis, reducing the need to cut other vital education reform programs like class size reduction."
The Assembly Education Committee is scheduled to consider AB 356, authored by Assembly member Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and co-authored by Gene Mullin (D-San Mateo), on Wednesday. The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. in room 4202. California teachers will meet with lawmakers on Tuesday.
The bill exempts second graders from the annual STAR testing program, aligning the state program with federal law. It deletes passage of the California High School Exit Exam as a requirement for graduation, but retains the exam as a primary testing instrument and allows local school districts to decide how they want to use it. And finally, AB 356 eliminates the flawed rewards and sanctions provisions in the Public School Accountability Act. According to the California Department of Education, exempting second-grade students from the state-testing program would save about $3.2 million.
"Teachers believe in testing students, but the testing mania that has taken over California is eliminating valuable classroom instruction time - particularly for our youngest kids," said Johnson. California is one of only two states that mandate standardized testing for second graders.
"We need to let teachers teach," said Hancock. "With this bill we are trying to remove the pressures on students, teachers and schools at a time when we are cutting back funding support to them."