Schools Trustee Criticizes Testing

April 5, 2010

Suspend or cut back on state and federal testing of students until the budget crisis ends for education, says a Yuba City Unified School District trustee.

"I don’t think it would be any loss at all," James Ferreira said Thursday of stopping tests, including the high school exit exam and the state Standardized Testing and Reporting known as STAR.

Ferreira, a teacher for 24 years before he became assistant principal at Lindhurst High in the Marysville Joint Unified School District, said state testing has some value.

But local districts, he said, can better provide th e accountability that state testing advocates say standardized exams offer.

The state could save millions by suspending the standardized exams in California as schools face the loss of teachers and programs because of cutbacks in funding from Sacramento, Ferreira said.

"They’re filling in bubbles," Ferreira said of students answering questions on tests that have no affect on their own grades.

Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education, said state testing pushes the system to improve and produces data that provides officials with direction about where to focus resources.

"Even in these dark economic times," McLean said, "we can’t turn our backs on the needs of our students."

The state spends $93.1 million for testing, she said.

Nancy Aaberg, superintendent for Yuba City Unified, said "a lot of people share" Ferreira’s views.

While state tests have a long history, Aaberg noted that the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 made the consequences and sanctions for schools much more acute.

"It has given a nudge to districts and schools to look more carefully at students who are falling behind," Aaberg said. "I don’t think that’s a bad thing."

The state reimbursed Yuba City Unified $44,909 last school year for costs associated with the tests, according to the school district.

Bernie Rechs, a former teacher who is now a trustee for the Marysville Joint Unified School District, supports Ferreira’s call for the state to suspend testing.

"It costs a fortune. It takes a lot of class time," Rechs said. "The state can’t affor d to do the testing."

Ferreira said the state ships tests to school districts, where they are counted, repackaged and sent to schools. He said schools have to train teachers on testing protocol, administer the tests, repackage them and return the exams to the school districts before the tests are sent back to Sacramento.

The state then analyzes the test data without understanding the dynamics of local schools.

"They’re a long way from our kids," Ferreira said of officials in Sacramento. "They don’t see our kids."

Ferreira estimated he spends 20 to 25 days during the school year dealing with state and federal tests.

He said it’s a longshot to change state policy on the exams and that education is always a favorite subject of state officeholders.

"School’s are a political football — and a great one to run with," Ferreira said. "Everybody’s an expert on schools."