LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) has issued the following statement after U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rejected the Michigan Department of Education’s waiver request for federally-mandated tests, despite the continuing COVID-19 pandemic:
“With Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s decision to deny the Michigan Department of Education’s request to waive federally mandated standardized testing amid the pandemic, she has paved the way for as many as 5,000 Michigan third grade students to be legally flunked this spring based on their M-STEP reading scores. The last thing students and teachers need right now is even more anxiety heaped upon them.
“Her callous disregard for the realities of classrooms this year and the health and safety of all involved, undermines the extraordinary efforts and progress our schools have taken to reopen to learning. At a time when a little bit of common sense and compassion would go a long way, I find DeVos’s decision completely disappointing and hope she rethinks it.”
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