Heidi Alexander: “I thank the Senator from Utah for his comments. We will be voting on the Senator's amendment this afternoon at 4…”

“I thank the Senator from Utah for his comments. We will be voting on the Senator's amendment this afternoon at 4 o'clock, and I want to just make a couple of comments about it. I have a little different view of what his proposal is. He talks about our being opposed to Washington's heavyhanded approach. The way I understand his proposal, it is even more of a heavyhanded approach than the bill we are voting on today, and this is why. His proposal is that Washington tells Utah or Oklahoma or Tennessee or Washington State what to do about whether parents may opt out of these federally required tests. Now, they are not federally designed. Utah has its test. Tennessee has its test. They are designed by the States, but they are required. And there would be--since 2001, and this continues that--for example, two tests for a third grader. The testimony would be that it might take 2 hours for each test, so that would be 2 hours for a math test, 2 hours for a science test; then again in the fourth grade, 2 hours for a math test, 2 hours for a science test. I don't think anyone believes those are a great burden on students, it is all the other tests that seem to be required as schools prepared for the tests I just described. What we have done in this legislation is restore to States the power to decide how much these standardized tests count.…”