Bernie Sanders: Standardized tests have failed America's students

Bernie Sanders: America must end high-stakes testing, finally invest in public education

Wednesday marks 18 years since the signing into law of No Child Left Behind, one of the worst pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. In December 2001, I voted against NCLB because it was as clear to me then, as it is now, that so-called school choice and high-stakes standardized testing would not improve our schools or enhance our children’s ability to learn. We do not need an education system in which kids are simply taught to take tests. We need a system in which kids learn and grow in a holistic manner.

Under NCLB, standardized tests were utilized to hold public schools and teachers “accountable” for student outcomes. As a result, some schools that underperformed were closed and their teachers and unions blamed.

The long-term effects of this approach have been disastrous. NCLB perpetuated the myth of public schools and teachers as failing, which opened the door for the spread of school voucher programs and charter schools that we have today. Some of these charter schools are operated by for-profits; many of them are nonunion and are not publicly accountable.

NCLB also undermined the profession of teaching and hurt our students. Now, educators are routinely forced to teach to the test rather than encouraged to draw on their expertise. Students spend hours each year taking tests, and that doesn't include the hours it takes to prepare for them. This burden of testing has contributed to teacher burnout and caused levels of stress and anxiety among students to apparently surge.

Joys of teaching and joys of learning

Recently, I met a special education teacher in South Carolina who left the profession after having to administer a standardized test to one of her students with significant disabilities. The teacher described the experience as torture, and she told me that with the abysmal pay and lack of professional respect, it was the last straw.

Sadly, tens of thousands of highly qualified teachers across the country are similarly fed up and have no other option but to leave for other jobs.

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High-stakes testing has also robbed many students of a holistic educational experience and the joys of learning. Subjects not included in federal and state testing mandates, such as art and music, have been cut despite the wealth of evidence that they increase academic performance and social-emotional well-being.

These cuts have not been distributed equally; students of color have seen the sharpest drops in arts education.

The most serious flaw of high-stakes testing, however, is that it ignores the real problems facing our teachers and students: social inequality and underinvestment in our schools.

My Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education addresses these fundamental problems by increasing teacher pay to start at $60,000 a year, empowering teachers to craft thoughtful assessments that consider all aspects of a student’s academic progress, and putting a moratorium on charter schools and the federal charter school program until they can be made publicly accountable.

My plan triples Title I funding, which provides assistance for schools with high percentages of children from low-income families, and will have the federal government fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act at 50%.

My plan also provides year-round, free universal school meals. One of the gross injustices of high-stakes standardized testing is that it does not account for the impact of poverty and wrongly treats all children as if they enter the education system on equal footing. We know that is not the case. In a wealthy nation such as ours, no child should ever go hungry, and we should have the best public schools and teachers in the world.

Is this how much we value education?: My teacher salary was so low I slept in my car. Today, educators still barely get by.

Fortunately, educators, parents and students across the country agree. From West Virginia to California, teachers have been striking to demand real investment in their schools, instead of tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. In some cities, teachers have refused to administer tests that do not improve learning, and increasing numbers of parents and students are opting out of standardized tests and demanding more effective ways of assessing student performance.

We must build on this grassroots movement. If our children are to succeed in the 21st century economy, we need to recognize that there are no shortcuts around real investment in public education. Even the best educational assessments are of limited use if schools are underfunded, our teachers are disrespected, and millions of students and their families are living paycheck to paycheck.

As president, I will address these challenges by making transformative investments that eliminate one-size-fits-all solutions and put our students, our teachers and our public schools first.

Bernie Sanders is an independent senator from Vermont and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Follow him on Twitter: @SenSanders