I am writing in response to “CPS to snub new exam mandate; Limiting computer-driven test could risk federal aid, feed debate” (News, Jan. 19). The article should have been titled “CPS goes rogue: Where are the state auditors?”
The Chicago Public Schools intends to defy the State Board of Education’s testing requirements.
This action would put federal education grants to CPS in danger.
In a further act of rebellion, CPS plans to appeal directly to the federal Education Department for a waiver to the testing mandate in order to keep money flowing to its schools.
I admit that I have my own reservations about the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test and its rollout in Illinois.
Regardless, CPS should not be allowed to independently decide with which state mandates it wants to comply — especially on a statewide exam that evaluates performance and helps to put in place accountability measures.
The question is why is CPS petitioning the federal government against a state mandate?
State-mandated relief is often discussed in education committees in Springfield.
If CPS wants to take the discussion to the next level, I am happy to be involved in the conversation.
However, it needs to take the fight against state mandates to its own state legislators first.
I favor more decentralized control over all things education. Local boards, parents and taxpayers should have more control over how those education dollars are spent. Innovation should be encouraged by locals to achieve more effective and efficient programs that meet the needs of their communities — whether it is in delivering instruction or delivering lunch.
The article goes on to report an alarming statement from Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union president: “When we have teachers without desks and students without books, and we’re still trying to mandate a computer-driven test without any of the infrastructure we need to do that with . . . This is another unfunded mandate that comes down to punishing people for being poor.”
CPS spends $14,000 per student annually. Teachers with no desks? Students with no books? Where is the money going?
And now testing is considered punishing the poor? No, punishing the poor is keeping children trapped in underperforming and overcrowded schools with no way out year after year.
The Tribune’s article illustrates how badly broken our education system is. Parent-driven, locally controlled school choice is an important part of the solution.
— State Rep. Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton
