TEA Commissioner Mike Morath.
State Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney) is the latest Lone State State lawmaker to join the movement toward waiving the high-stakes accountability ratings of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam through May 2021 after Gov. Greg Abbott suspended the controversial testing program in May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bell told Inforney News on July 21 that in a time of crisis it's all about timing.
“I don’t believe there is a single legislator that doesn’t believe that we shouldn’t put a pause on the STAAR test and the A-F accountability system in the upcoming 2020-2021 school year,” said Bell who wants Abbott and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to suspend STAAR testing for the upcoming school year. “As a member of the House Public Education Committee, I am more concerned that schools are opened safely, fully funded, students and educators have the resources they need to feel safe whether in-person or virtual and our kids are learning."
Bell issued the statement to Inforney News after TEA Commissioner Mike Morath decided to proceed with STAAR testing for students in the 2020-2021 academic year, according to media reports.
Bell joins the Wichita Falls Independent School District, Rep. Jared Patterson (R-Denton), Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D-Travis), Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van), the Conroe Independent School District, Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) and others in announcing their support for waiving accountability ratings along with teachers and parents. Teachers for Texas has begun circulating a petition and an Opt-Out Texas Facebook group helps parents demand that their children not be subjected to STAAR requirements.
As previously reported in the Lone Star Standard, STAAR exam results are used to evaluate performance in reading, writing, math, science and social studies for 3rd- through 12th-grade students but the coronavirus has caused inconsistent student participation and other virtual learning deficiencies. There are 5.4 million students in Texas, according to the TEA.
As of July 30, there were 412,107 coronavirus cases statewide and 6,247 fatalities, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services COVID-19 dashboard.
Scott Moore, a Conroe ISD board member, told Education Daily Wire that he thinks the main driver for TEA to continue pushing forward with STAAR is financial and that the STAAR vendor stands to make a lot of money if the test continues while the TEA stands to lose a lot of money if it does not its contractual obligations with the vendor.
The TEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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