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New Haven, Conn.—Today, the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) called for Connecticut legislators to abandon the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC).
In response, ConnCAN CEO Jennifer Alexander offered the following statement:
“What the CEA has proposed is educationally unsound and financially reckless. This level of inaccuracy and recklessness jeopardizes the education and future of students all across Connecticut. These knee-jerk reactions based on misinformation isn’t fair to our taxpayers, families, and most importantly, isn’t fair to our students.
The CEA’s proposal would squander the millions of dollars and countless hours our state and districts have invested to implement this new system, and would add millions in additional costs. This is simple financial responsibility, particularly with the fiscal climate the state of Connecticut finds itself in. What’s more, the SBAC is shown to be developmentally appropriate and was designed with a wide variety of stakeholders, including hundreds of K-12 educators and higher education faculty from Connecticut.
We have only just completed the first year of SBAC, and the results served as a true baseline helping us to understand how well our students are progressing to meet high academic standards. We need the data from SBAC to help us keep our promise to our children and their families that their public education – no matter where they live or how much money they have – will prepare them for the challenges ahead of them in college and career.
The CEA’s statement is a case of rejecting the messenger because they don’t like the message. The latest results from SBAC show that while some students in Connecticut are doing well, we have a long way to go to make sure that all students are getting the great public education they need. This data is reinforced by college remediation rates and feedback from employers across the state and country, which show that too many of our students are leaving high school unprepared for college and lacking skills necessary to compete in the global economy. Instead of entertaining reckless and misinformed proposals like the CEA’s, we must focus on ensuring that all children get the opportunity to fully reach their potential.
Now more than ever, our state leaders must identify what’s best for students and continue progress. The state has an educational and financial imperative to continue and accelerate efforts to ensure all students, regardless of race, wealth or address get a great public education.”