Political Quotes

“I would like to thank Chairman Kline and Ranking Member Scott for their leadership on the committee and on this important legislation. I know that we will need to continue to work together to identify opportunities for bipartisan collaboration if we are going to successfully replace No Child Left Behind, and I have confidence we can do that. I also thank Representative Costello for his work on this amendment and for his partnership on the SMART Act. Mr. Costello's dedication to public education is commendable, and I look forward to continuing to work with him. Mr. Chairman, the Bonamici-Costello amendment is an example of finding common ground on a way to support teaching and learning in our Nation's classrooms. We have all heard about the overuse and misuse of standardized tests. Too much time is lost in preparing for and in administering assessments, and too few of these assessments provide timely information that meaningfully supports the learning that is taking place in our schools, but the purposeful use of high-quality assessments can support teaching and learning. Good assessments used appropriately can serve as one tool for monitoring students' progress and in helping parents, teachers, and school leaders see how students are performing across the State. This amendment will help to reduce the testing burden and build high- quality assessment systems that support teachers and students.…”