Schools chief criticizes veto of testing bill
Gov. Mary Fallin delivered a surprise blow to the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s implementation of new academic standards and student assessments this week, and state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister is responding with sharp criticism.
“Gov. Fallin has been wrong on education policy before, and her veto of this legislation is wrong, as well,” Hofmeister said Friday.
Fallin announced after the close of business on Thursday that she had vetoed Senate Bill 1190, which passed the state Senate by a vote of 42-0 and the House by 88-1. Her timing, right after final adjournment of the legislative session, negated any possibility of a veto-override vote this session.
Hofmeister said the move will cost taxpayers precious education funding and cost thirdgraders — the youngest students subject to federally required achievement testing — time that would be better spent on instruction.
“Oklahomans have been very clear that they want high expectations but also want to have assessments for their kids that have value,” Hofmeister said. “Instead, this veto creates confusion and instability, and that isn’t good for schools and for kids.
“It also reveals a shallow understanding of the important work of many technical experts and Oklahoma veteran educators who are in classrooms every day and best understand the high academic standards that are necessary to ensure students are ready for the next academic year.”
Senate Bill 1190 would have aligned the Reading Sufficiency Act’s minimum standards for being considered proficient in third-grade reading with the new academic standards and student assessments in place for all public school grade levels.
The amendment to the RSA law had been recommended by the Oklahoma Technical Advisory Committee of student assessment experts, as well as a committee of veteran educators.
It was then unanimously adopted by the Commission on Educational Quality and Accountability, comprising all-Fallin appointees, including its chairwoman, Fallin’s then-Secretary of Education Natalie Shirley.
“The governor’s office was part of this from the beginning, which is what makes this so confusing,” Hofmeister said. “We do not want to see the lengthening of an assessment tool unnecessarily to comply with old, out-of-date language that this bill would have cleaned up.”
Fallin called the Reading Sufficiency Act “one of my chief priorities since taking office,” and said maintaining a high standard for third-grade reading proficiency was her primary goal for the initiative.”
She criticized how the bill reduced the number of possible results from four to two, which she said creates a pass-fail system.
“With a pass-fail system, parents, and community members and state education policymakers will not be able to understand if a school is missing the past level by a point or by significant margins. This also does not allow policymakers to see if all levels of students are improving on tests or just the bubble students.”
Hofmeister said Fallin’s claim that the proposed bill language would establish a simple pass-fail standard was an “inaccurate interpretation” of SB 1190.
What now?
Hofmeister said the veto doesn’t affect the state assessments thirdgraders just took this April, but it could affect future years’ tests.
“We have pieces now that don’t fit. That creates chaos and confusion. This state has had enough instability, and our teachers and families are tired of all of the constant changes. We were finally to a place where this process was smooth and effective and focused on increased time on learning and less time on testing,” Hofmeister said.
“What am I going to do? I’m not going to allow this to stand in the way. We will continue to work to shield student learning time, and we will advocate forcefully to clean this up and align it once again when the Legislature comes back next year.”