AFT-NM Responds To New Mexico PARCC Results

AFT-NM President Stephanie Ly

 

AFT-NM News:

 

ALBUQUERQUE – American Federation of Teachers New Mexico President Stephanie Ly released the following statement:

 

“We appreciate the small gains in PARCC exam scores for New Mexico students, imagine if we empowered our educators and students to actually teach and learn instead of doubling-down by NM PED on our overreliance on standardized testing, and additional district-level testing necessitated by NM PED data demands. While these scores are indeed ‘unprecedented’, so is the sheer volume of days educators and students spend preparing for and taking standardized tests in our public schools under the NM PED, depriving our students of weeks of critical learning throughout the academic year. We will continue to fight for our students to have more learning than testing in our public education system.

 

“As other states continue to drop the use of the PARCC exam, lawmakers and candidates in New Mexico also recognize the PARCC exam is not serving our students well. Coupled with the continued use of the PARCC exam to determine graduation decisions, professional educators know we must do better for our students. The truth is we don’t have much to show for PED’s choice to waste tens-of-millions of dollars on the PARCC exam over the last four years.

 

“Secretary Designate Ruszkowski believes higher scores are due to ‘staying the course’, but we know any gains made by students in New Mexico are due to the incredible dedication of our public educators despite the most challenging of environments, namely the punitive results of low PARCC scores for their ability to advance in their career.

“The fact is we still are lagging behind other states, and nearly eight years of promised reforms have created no real change for our students. In fact, we have slipped backwards. New Mexico’s professional educators are looking forward to the forthcoming administrative change in Santa Fe, and a return to proven education policies: less testing for students, more local control in our districts and communities, greater levels of educator autonomy, and a return to respect for the profession of public education at all levels in New Mexico. Our students and their families deserve no less.”

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