Springtime in public schools is the season when rows of students, armed with number two pencils, sit for hours filling in bubbles on Scantron sheets to show how much they’ve learned.
This year, however, Pennsylvania education leaders have sent a letter to the Biden Administration asking the federal government to cancel standardized testing for students.
Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, says school districts that are operating remotely, like Allentown would have to fully reopen to conduct standardized tests.
“I think it would be an absurd thought to require schools to reopen when the district has made the decision to put health and safety first,” Askey says.
Testing will put more stress on students who are already struggling from the pandemic, he says.
“There are students that crash, emotionally, because they're so stressed out by the test,” he says.
Testing is scheduled to begin in the commonwealth on March 7. Askey hopes for a quick decision from Washington.