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Rep. Reilly’s plan to eliminate redundancy in standardized testing passes committee
RELEASE|February 26, 2019

Legislation gives school districts the right to choose what is best for students

State Rep. John Reilly’s bill allowing local school districts to opt out of certain standardized testing was overwhelmingly approved by the House Education Committee today.

“Oakland County schools and school districts across Michigan are burdened by the many redundant state assessments they are forced to administer,” said Reilly, of Oakland Township. “Eleventh grade students are required to take the SAT, M-STEP and WorkKeys assessments, which waste precious classroom time testing so much of the same material.”

While the WorkKeys test is billed as an assessment of career readiness, Reilly says it tests nothing more than remedial algebra, reading comprehension and basic problem solving – duplicative of other exams.

“I’ve spoken with our local school district officials, and across the board they indicated they would not administer the WorkKeys test if given the option,” Reilly said. “There’s a clear need for a reduced burden of standardized exams on our schools and students.”

Present to support the bill were Dr. Matthew Outlaw, from Brandon Public Schools, David Randels, from Oakland Schools, and Caroline Liethen, from the Michigan Department of Education, along with many others.

The bill was the first passed out of the House Education Committee in the 2018-19 term. Rep. Pamela Hornberger, who chairs the committee, said she supports the measure because it allows schools to decide what is best for their students.

“If a school sees value in the exam, that’s fine. This legislation would not prohibit them from using it,” Hornberger said. “We’re simply removing the mandate so that school districts can make their own decisions based on what works for their students.”

House Bill 4162 received overwhelming bipartisan support and now moves to the House Ways and Means Committee for further consideration.

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