LANSING, Mich., Sept. 8, 2020 — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos notified State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice and other state school chiefs across the country yesterday that states should not anticipate any waivers to the federal requirement to administer statewide summative assessments for the 2020-2021 school year. Rep. Lori Stone (D-Warren), who introduced House Resolution 27 to urge the U.S. Department of Education to grant waivers for Michigan state assessment requirements, issued the following statement:
“Our schools are already facing unprecedented challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as students, teachers and parents do their best to fill instructional gaps and adapt to new instructional methods. We all understand that education during this crisis is far from normal and we don’t need to prove that with lengthy tests that only serve to rob our students of more instructional time. Now more than ever it is imperative to offer our students and teachers the flexibility and support they so desperately need. Betsy DeVos fails to understand this, but that disconnect is what we expect from a Secretary of Education who has never spent one day of her life as an educator.”
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