NEA on Bush Testing Plan

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@EARTHLINK.NET>]

           TEACHERS UNIONS WARY OF BUSH'S TESTING PLAN
             PROPOSAL'S EMPHASIS ON THE POOR PRAISED
    Atlanta Journal Constitution -- Friday, February 2, 2001
             Andrew Mollison - Cox Washington Bureau

    Washington --- President Bush's education plan relies too heavily on
test scores, Bob Chase, president of the National Education Association,
said Thursday.
    Bush's plan would require two sets of annual tests.
    States would administer their own tests in reading and math to all
students in third through eighth grade, and the federal government would
give different tests in those subjects to a cross-section of each
state's fourth- and eighth-graders.
    Scores would be made public for each state, district and school,
sorted by race and ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency,
disability status and socioeconomic status.
    That would give parents and the public timely information about
which schools need improvement, Bush said.
    "Testing is important and it should be used as a barometer, but it
should not be the only barometer," Chase said as he released the NEA's
new policy agenda, "The Opportunity to Excel."
    The nation's largest teachers union, the NEA helped many Democrats
and a handful of Republicans get elected to the closely divided
Congress.
    That support and the group's expertise give it a big voice in
education debates.
    Chase said evaluations of public schools should be based partly on
test scores, but also on such "outcomes" as attendance, dropout and
graduation rates, the number of students taking college-prep or
college-level courses, and performance on SAT and ACT college admission
tests.
    On the "input" side, states and districts should also be judged by
the amount and quality of financial, managerial and educational help
that they give to failing or troubled schools and students, Chase said.
    Test scores are also emphasized in an alternative offered by Sen.
Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and other moderate Democrats.
    But a third plan --- authored by liberals led by Rep. George Miller
of California, ranking Democrat on the House committee that will
consider Bush's plan --- is silent on testing policy.
    Miller explained that some of his bill's co-sponsors didn't share
his own enthusiasm for Bush's multitest plan.
    Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers,
said that she has only a few qualms about emphasizing test scores.
    "Mainly, we want to make sure we don't overwhelm teachers and
children with too many tests," Feldman said. "But we do want tests to be
used to identify schools that need to be arnhelped."
    She and Chase praised many parts of Bush's plan.
    Both welcomed his emphasis on reading, early childhood education,
and the professional preparation and development of teachers, as well as
his suggestion to beef up federal funding for educating the disabled and
poor children.
    "We don't agree with everything in every plan, but the fact that
there is this concern about putting additional resources into schools,
particularly those attended by poor children, is heartening," Feldman
said.
    The union leaders said Congress is likely to block Bush's request
for tax-paid private-school vouchers for children in persistently
failing public schools.
    Chase said his union also opposes Bush's plan for bigger tax breaks
for parents with a child in a private elementary or secondary school.
Feldman wasn't asked about that.
    ON THE WEB: National Education Association: www.nea.org
                American Federation of Teachers: www.aft.org

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