Georgia’s governor and the state school superintendent plan to ask for federal permission to suspend all state standardized testing in public schools for a second year.
Gov. Brian Kemp and State Superintendent Richard Woods said in a joint statement Thursday that the tests would be “counterproductive” given disruptions to the upcoming 2020-2021 school year from COVID-19. They also said they would rather the state spend the money it would pay for tests on helping students in other ways.
“In anticipation of a return to in-person instruction this fall, we believe schools’ focus should be on remediation, growth, and the safety of students,” the two elected Republicans said. “Every dollar spent on high-stakes testing would be a dollar taken away from the classroom.”
Georgia and most other states nationwide canceled standardized testing this spring after in-person classes were suspended in March.
Kemp and Woods said they also want to suspend the numerical grading system of schools and school districts that underlies the A-to-F grades issued by the governor’s office. The U.S. Department of Education would have to approve both the suspension of tests and the suspension of the grading system.
