Student Success Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Chairman, I rise to engage the ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee, Mr. Miller, in a colloquy.
As a teacher for more than 20 years, I've seen firsthand the unintended, yet harmful, consequences that the annual assessment requirements included in No Child Left Behind and the States' poor decisions in the implementation of them have had on America's students and teachers alike. I'm concerned that high stakes and low-quality testing have caused a negative shift in our education system from teaching to testing, and our education system is no better off than it was before.
Mr. Miller, you have spent a considerable time on this issue and have been a leader in the Congress on education. Will you work with me to address the issues regarding our testing in our Nation's schools?
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. I thank the gentleman.
I agree with the gentleman that the testing provisions included in No Child Left Behind as well as the implementation of these provisions is imperfect and outdated. Unfortunately, ESEA authorization is 5 years overdue and the majority appears to have no interest in working with us to develop a bill that can pass both the House and the Senate.
However, I'll gladly work with you to address the issue of testing in America's schools to ensure that while we continue to measure whether or not students are achieving at grade level, we will also ensure such assessments be done in a way to improve both teaching and learning.
Mr. TAKANO. Thank you, Mr. Miller. I look forward to working with you.
Mr. Chairman, I have submitted an amendment with Representative Gibson to H.R. 5, which would return annual testing to pre-No Child Left Behind levels. However, H.R. 5 is just so bad of a bill that even this amendment, if it were to pass, I could not support the bill. That is why I decided to withdraw my support for the amendment.
I thank Mr. Miller for his leadership on this issue.
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