Help get Congressional co-sponsors for the MORE TEACHING, LESS TESTING bill!
On March 23, 2023 longtime NYC Opt Out ally, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, announced the MORE TEACHING, LESS TESTING bill. Among other things, the bill would amend federal education law to remove the annual testing mandate for all public school 3rd-8th graders.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
To put the bill on the path to being signed into law, it needs more co-sponsors. Please call or write your Congressperson and ask them to become a co-sponsor of the bill. (As of this writing, the following are already co-sponsors: Frederica Wilson, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Greg Casar, Donald M. Payne Jr., Shontel Brown, Nydia Velázquez, Pramila Jayapal, Adriano Espaillat, Delia Ramirez, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Rashida Tlaib, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ayanna Pressley, Jasmine Crockett, Summer Lee, Nikema Williams, and Maxwell Frost.)
Not sure who your Congressperson is or how to contact them? Look them up here.
CALL
Phone calls allegedly get more attention than emails, so try calling first if possible. You will likely talk to a staffer who will take note of your message or you’ll have to leave a message on voicemail.
Possible script:
“Hi, I am a constituent of Congressperson X. Congressman Jamaal Bowman recently announced the MORE TEACHING, LESS TESTING act, and for the sake of the overtested school children in our district and throughout the country, I am requesting that Congressperson X co-sponsor the bill.”
Suggested subject line:
Please co-sponsor the MORE TEACHING, LESS TESTING bill
Sample message you can cut and paste into the body–or create your own!
Dear Rep X,
I am writing to ask you to consider co-sponsoring an important piece of legislation, the “More Teaching, Less Testing Act of 2023.” If enacted, this bill will have a direct and consequential impact on the public schoolchildren in our district.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Jamal Bowman (D-NY), would bring much-needed improvements to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by reducing the amount of standardized testing the federal government requires in elementary and middle schools. It would also provide increased funding to promote innovative authentic assessments, thereby improving educational quality and equity.
Public school students in the US are currently taking an average of 112 standardized tests over the course of their K-12 education. That’s way too much time spent on testing, and is taking time away from what children should be doing in school–learning!
Instead of the overkill of testing every single 3rd-8th grader every single year--which has done nothing to move the needle on student achievement despite over 20 years of data--the More Teaching, Less Testing Act of 2023 would allow states to use grade-span testing, matrix sampling, or a combination to calculate ESSA compliance. By taking the emphasis off all of this testing, the bill will pave the way for schools to provide our children with deep, rich, student-centered learning instead of formulaic, dispiriting test prep.
I encourage you to consider co-sponsoring this important legislation that is sure to have bipartisan support.
Thanks from your constituent,
Name
HAVE A FEW MORE MINUTES?
The bill needs Senate leads too. Look up how to contact your senator. New Yorkers are especially encouraged to reach out to Chuck Schumer for his support.
