Reps. Crossman and Sobecki reiterate their call for DeWine and ODE to seek federal waiver for school assessments

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Jeffrey Crossman (D-Parma) and Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) today reiterated their call for Ohio Governor DeWine and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria to seek a federal waiver to cancel state assessments for the 2020-21 school year.

“On day 1, our schools, teachers, and students are going to start preparing for the end of year assessments instead of focusing on learning and shoring up on knowledge students learned during this past spring,” said State Rep. Sobecki. “Our classrooms need to be focused on learning, not high-stake testing. Ohio shouldn’t wait any longer. We should request the federal waiver now.”

“Rep. Sobecki and I have done our part in starting the process of cancelling state mandated testing. Now the Ohio Department of Education needs to show their support for students, parents and educators by actually taking steps to seek the necessary waiver from the federal government,” said State Rep. Crossman. “I’m disappointed that so many people have chosen to sit on this issue, rather than take proactive action to ensure the best learning environment for the coming school year. Everyone already has enough on their plate already to worry about without having this issue to contend with.”

During a call with the Governor’s staff at the end of June, the Representatives highlighted that the Georgia Department of Education announced their intention to seek a waiver. Georgia recently announced that they have officially filed the waiver.

Reps. Crossman and Sobecki’s House Bill (HB) 686 would cancel state assessments for the upcoming school year and require ODE to seek a waiver for the federally mandated tests. HB 686 awaits a hearing in the House Primary and Secondary Education committee.