On the recordJuly 8, 2015
I thank the ranking member. Mr. Chairman, one parent recently wrote me that she prefers that students with special needs be required to take tests. In her words, ``The tests gave us the data we needed to see where my son needed additional support.'' I rise in opposition to Mr. Salmon's amendment. Before No Child Left Behind was passed, schools across the country would systemically excluded students from tests in an effort to inflate a school's overall performance and sweep deficiencies and discrimination under the rug. This amendment, which would allow students to opt out of tests and allow those students to be omitted from the testing threshold, would make it easier to, once again, exclude historically marginalized students from accountability systems. There would be almost no way of knowing which students truly opted out, which were pushed out, and which students stayed at home at their schools' suggestion or traveled on an optional field trip. In my home State of Colorado, a similar provision was brought up in the State legislature, and over 400 business and community leaders strongly publicly opposed the bill and succeeded in defeating it. In order to close achievement gaps, we need data on every student, regardless of race, background, or disability. This kind of policy allows the very data we need the most on the most needy kids to be swept under the rug. For that reason, I strongly urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.
