[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9137-9138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          REAUTHORIZE THE ESEA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, across my congressional 
district, elementary and secondary school students are packing up their 
lockers, taking final exams, and saying good-bye to their classmates 
and homeroom desks for the summer.
  While our students head into a well-deserved summer recess, our 
teachers have already started thinking ahead to the next academic year, 
setting up lesson plans and figuring out what their course curriculums 
will be.
  Unfortunately, many of our teachers will be faced with yet another 
year of stifling one-size-fits-all testing requirements and deadlines. 
Instead of enabling our teachers to do what they love and inspiring our 
children to learn and succeed, they are forced to waste classroom time 
by preparing and administering redundant and often low-quality tests.
  Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly 15 weeks since I last spoke on the 
House floor about the need to provide relief from burdensome testing 
requirements for our teachers, students, and parents.
  At the time, the House was actively considering H.R. 5, legislation 
to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as well as 
an amendment I was pleased to offer with my Democratic colleague, 
Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon. Our bipartisan amendment, which was adopted 
and included as part of H.R. 5, offers a solution to the overtesting 
problem that is taxing our schools and teachers.
  Our amendment empowers teachers and parents by giving existing 
Federal funding to State and local education agencies to develop 
curriculum plans to make better use of tests for the students, with the 
ability to reduce testing.
  It would also allow for quicker delivery of assessment data to 
educators and parents and a more qualitative analysis of how to shape 
curriculum for that student from the local school district and parent, 
not the Federal Government.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to continue our work on this bill and 
reauthorize the ESEA. We owe it to our colleagues who have worked for 
months on this bill and underlying policy. We owe it to our teachers 
who have dedicated their livelihood and careers to the betterment of 
our children.
  Most of all, we owe it to our children, who deserve the best possible 
education that we can provide, an education that encourages them to 
think, learn, and succeed and not that simply tells them how to fill in 
the blanks on a generic test.
  For those of my colleagues who may be undecided on advancing this 
bill and reauthorizing the ESEA, I ask you to consider: Are you happy 
with the status quo? Are you content to sit on the sidelines while 
Common Core standards and a myriad of tests are imposed on our 
students?
  I would like to read into the Record a letter I received from the 
superintendent of my home school district. Let me preface this by 
saying it was not written to me as a Member of Congress, but rather as 
a taxpayer in the West Chester Area School District.
  I read this because there is no better example of a need and an 
opportunity for us to help our families back home do our job and govern 
here in Congress. It reads:

       Dear Parents, many of us are quick to fault the U.S. public 
     education system, comparing it to other smaller European 
     countries and finding deficits and gaps. The system and the 
     way it is funded are far from perfect. However, we manage to 
     educate generations of children who go on to do incredible 
     things.
       Now, we are asking our students to do something that is 
     entirely unfair: to spend weeks and weeks filling in bubbles, 
     taking standardized tests, and having their entire 
     educational ambition directed toward passing them. This is 
     not what public education was intended to do, nor should do.
       As the superintendent of the West Chester Area School 
     District, I believe in very high standards for our students. 
     I believe in accountability. I do believe that tests can be a 
     good thing, but not the way we are being forced by the 
     government to give them.

[[Page 9138]]

       We officially began the PSSA testing window on April 13, 
     and we will continue to test through May 27, when we finish 
     with the high school Keystone Exams, a new graduation 
     requirement. Beginning with the class of 2017, even a 
     straight-A student who doesn't do well on these tests won't 
     receive a diploma under State law.
       State and federally mandated testing has been around for a 
     long time, and is certainly here to stay, but it has become a 
     massive burden that is stifling creativity and love of 
     teaching and learning.
       While our district has embraced high standards and 
     accountability, we now spend the first 7 months of the school 
     year preparing to take three standardized tests; then we 
     spend approximately 6 weeks giving tests to students. Unlike 
     private and parochial schools, public schools are mandated to 
     use these tests to determine graduation for students and for 
     teacher and administrator evaluations. It is positively 
     stressing us--and our system--to the max.
       Our teachers, students, and parents all say the extreme 
     amount of time focused on testing is causing ridiculous 
     amounts of stress in the classroom, faculty room, and at 
     home. The angst is palpable as you walk through our hallways.
       Where is there time for creativity in teaching? Where is 
     there time for exploration and collaboration? Our talented 
     staff do their very best to find ways to incorporate what 
     needs to be tested into their dynamic lesson plans, but it is 
     difficult, given the time constraints and enormous amount of 
     material being covered.
       Ultimately, that negativity is going to drive down our test 
     scores. Learning should be challenging, but also enjoyable 
     and exciting. Teaching should be dynamic and creative. We are 
     missing that because of these tests.
       I am not advocating a system without any testing, rigor, or 
     accountability, but what we are doing right now isn't 
     working.
       Teachers have literally sent me hundreds of examples of how 
     students are worried, anxious, and depressed. The rules for 
     taking these exams are crazy as well.
       Springtime in a school should be full of excitement and 
     learning--not anymore. The last 3 weeks, our schools have 
     looked more like prisons than educational institutions. The 
     rules allow students to take as much time as they need, but 
     once they close the booklet, the session is over, and they 
     can't return to it.

  Let's reauthorize the ESEA. Let's reduce the Federal footprint over 
public education. It is the right thing to do.

                          ____________________