This morning my staff and I joined parents, students, and educators at five schools across our Senate District in protesting high-stakes testing and the lack of testing transparency.

I am proud to stand with our school communities in opposition to high-stakes testing, and in particular its use as a measure of student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school performance. We must broaden our understanding of education, move away from ”teaching to the test,” and relieve the pressure on our students. We also must to do more to safeguard sensitive student data.

Please see below a letter addressing these important issues that I distributed at rallies at PS 3, PS 11, PS 41, PS 51, and PS 87. I look forward to continuing to work with school stakeholders across our district to reduce the emphasis on testing, protect student privacy, and to amplify the voices of parents, students, and educators in education policy.