H.E.L.P.

Committee
Committee Jurisdiction Research

U.S. Public Schools’ Curriculums and Standardized Tests

Dear Fellow Committee Members,

The issue I would like to address pertains to the unfair public-school curriculums and
standardized tests that continue to cause controversy within America. States across the country
consist of similar public-school curriculums for K-12 students, although they each include their
own state standardized tests. The curriculums and standardized tests within each state are meant
to be used as tools, in which guide the future generations to come for success. However, these
curriculums and standardized tests nationwide have proved time and time again through
scholarly research that they have negative impacts on the lives of students, parents, and others
within communities across the country (Kim, 2018). The issue is that states across the U.S. are
neglecting their students and faculty by providing curriculums that don’t align with those states
standardized tests, whose purpose is to indicate whether students pass or fail. Of course, it does
not help that the educational system was built with a bias; bias in deciding where to direct funds,
bias in the material we teach, and bias in where the school is located. (Cox, 2018). This issue is
important because if we continue to allow schools across our nation to create bias curriculums
and standardized tests, then students and others will continue to be negatively impacted by this
vicious cycle.

The education of children and youth has always been important to American society. Curriculum
development in the United States can be seen following trends and patterns in population, and
through change in the world around them. However, with this issue of unfair public-school
curriculums and standardized tests, there has been a history of legislation that Congress has
addressed regarding this issue. The modern testing movement began with the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA), enacted by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, which
included testing and accountability provisions in an effort to raise standards and make education
more equitable (procon.org, 2018). Successful administrations aimed to implement national
school reform following President Ronald Reagan’s 1983 A Nation At Risk’s release (procon.org,
2018). In 2002, George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, that was created by
Congress to mandate annual testing in all 50 states (procon.org, 2018). In 2010, President Barack
Obama proposed a remodel of the NCLB, “promising further incentives to states if they develop
improved assessments tied more closely to state standards, and emphasizing other indicators like
pupil attendance, graduation rates and learning climate in addition to test scores” (procon.org,
2018). In 2016, when Donald Trump won the Presidency, Trump was quick to make repeals of
Barack Obama’s era of educational regulations. Disregarding the issue of unfair and bias public-
school curriculums and state tests nationwide, Trump signed the Strengthening Career and
Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. This act allows states to set their own goals for
career and technical education programs without the education secretary’s approval (Ujifusa,
2018).

Money plays an important role in the legislative process. As previously mentioned, past United
States Presidents have taking part in passing new educational reforms. Of course, plans for
educational reform, comes with a price. According to information collected from the Pew Center,
“annual state spending on standardized tests rose from $423 million before NCLB to almost $1.1
billion in 2008 (a 160% increase compared to a 19.22% increase in inflation over the same
period)” (procon.org, 2018). In 2009, President Barack Obama's Race to the Top program was
signed into law, inviting states to compete for $4.35 billion in extra funding based on the strength
of their student test scores (procon.org,2018). These have been cases where Presidents’ have
spent an appropriate budget on our nation’s education system and addressed the issue of unfair
national public schools’ and their curriculums and state tests. Unlike, President Donald Trump’s
new Strengthening Career and Technical Education of the 21st Century Act, which has back
tracked the educational reforms goals.

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, has caused serious
controversy within Congress. Republicans claim that the accountability rules represented an
executive overreach by former President Barack Obama (Brown, 2017). While Democrats argue
that rescinding the rules opens loopholes that states can use to shield poorly performing schools
from scrutiny, especially when they fail to serve poor children, minorities, English-language
learners and students with disabilities (Brown, 2017). One more bill that Trump had passed that
addresses the issue of national education standards is the Teacher Preparation Regulation. This
regulation requires states to issue annual ratings for training programs within their states. This
was an unpopular idea from the start. Still, teachers’ unions said the regulations wrongly tied
ratings of teacher-training programs to the performance of teachers’ students on standardized
tests; colleges argue that the rules were onerous and expensive (Brown, 2017).

I bring this issue of unfair and bias public-school curriculums and standardized tests to your
attention because this issue continues to be controversial and the legislation that is currently in
place is not a popular one. These bills put into place by President Donald Trump need to be
repealed and replaced with a bipartisan solution that both party members and American citizens
can be happy with.
Sincerely,
Molly McILroy
 Bibliography

Background of the Issue. (2018, October 23). Retrieved March 22, 2019, from
https://standardizedtests.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006521

Brown, E. (2017, March 27). Trump signs bills overturning Obama-era education
regulations. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-trump-overturn-education-regulations-
20170327-story.html

Cox, A., & Cox, A. (2018, March 09). The Current Education System is Failing our
Students. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://edsurgeindependent.com/the-current-
education-system-is-failing-our-students-b35614943541

Kim, J. (2018). School accountability and standard-based education reform: The recall of
social efficiency movement and scientific management. International Journal of Educational
Development, 60, 80-87.

Ujifusa, A. (2018, July 31). Donald Trump Signs First Major Education Policy Bill of His
Presidency. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/07/31/donald-trump-signs-career-technical-education-
bill.html