By Jennifer Chambers
Federal education officials (click here) have denied Michigan's request to cancel state assessments this school year, clearing the way for the year-end tests to begin next week and leaving some districts scrambling to figure out logistics for giving the exams amid COVID-related building closures.
The U.S. Department of Education issued its decision Tuesday, refusing to waive the federal requirement to administer the state summative assessments like the M-STEP....
The US Department of Education, under the Biden presidency, needs to receive HONEST end of year scores. We have to know where we are in order to move forward. This was a national emergency in our schools and the first time the USA public school system was shut down nationwide.
In addition to year of end scores the US Department of Education should demand a reporting of when the school reopened, the number of students and teachers that contracted the virus after reopening and any and all deaths affiliated with the school system, including janitors, that occurred this past year.
All those statistics are important because it will give a picture of what actions mattered and what compromised the safety of our children.
And let's not forget spring break and the mass spreader event that brought disease to communities and universities.
DON'T FUDGE THE NUMBERS.
