The National Education Association's 153rd annual meeting began this week in Orlando, Florida. It's a gathering of thousands of educators from around the country to address pressing issues in the teaching profession.
A priority on this year's agenda is the pending re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, most recently re-authorized in 2001 as No Child Left Behind.
Virginia Education Association President Meg Gruber is present at the meeting, she says the re-write seeks to measure equity in schools across the board and reduce the focus on standardized testing – making available more information about schools to the public
“We want to be able to go back as educators and assess our students on things more than knowledge. We want to be able to assess them on the fact that they understand what they're learning – and can they apply and use that knowledge.”
Implementing a re-authorized ESEA on a Federal level could open doors to possibly reducing required SOL tests in the Commonwealth
“And if we can reduce those, then we can reduce all the school systems who have benchmark or quartered tests to get them prepped for the SOL tests – and we can get more time for our students to learn.”
Gruber says most of Virginia's representatives, including Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, seem open to discussion on addressing public education
“Unfortunately, they are also hearing from certain lobby groups who believe that if we don't test, we don't teach. And that's so unfortunate because that's so not right.”
Gruber encourages educators and parents to contact Senators Warner and Kaine, as well as their members of Congress about how standardized testing is affecting students across the state. The re-authorization of ESEA goes to the Senate on July 7th.