Sen. Ernesto Lopez is fond of claiming his steadfast support for children and their educational needs and has touted the need for “instruments to measure success and failure that are fair and equitable across the board.” Thus his recent vote against SB 229 smacks of hypocrisy.
This bill, which passed the Senate overwhelmingly and now moves to the House, would exempt students with severe learning disabilities (IQ 50 or under, severe dyslexia, autism, or multiple disabilities) from the required standardized tests, contingent upon parental and school consent. Forcing learning-challenged students to submit to a test they have no chance to pass not only wastes precious educational time and resources but unfairly consigns to failure those we hope to encourage.
Academic improvement is still the goal for these students; the bill also provides for more appropriate approaches to ongoing measurement of their progress. Perhaps this provision wasn’t sufficiently hardline, bureaucratic, and one-size-must-fit-all for Senator “Party Line” Lopez.
Patti Cleary
Lewes
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