(WXYZ) — Michigan education leaders are urging U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to grant a nationwide waiver of statewide student assessments.
State Board of Education President Dr. Casandra Ulbrich and State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice wrote to DeVos to say that state testing should be waived this year in order to focus more on children's "immediate needs."
“It’s time for Betsy DeVos to do the right thing on behalf of our students and waive statewide assessments,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “When our kids get back to school, our number one priority must be ensuring they have the resources they need to get back on track.”
Rice says children will need to be re-acclimated when they return to school.
Michigan's annual M-STEP tests are scheduled to begin the week of April 13 and run through May 28. Schools have been closed in Michigan through April 5.
“For a variety of reasons, this is not simply an undesirable situation; it is a completely unacceptable one,” Drs. Ulbrich and Rice included in their letter to DeVos. “Many children will struggle with the long absence from school. It will take many districts a considerable period of time to resume normal functioning, not to mention refocusing on the instruction of children.”