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State Senator: Get Ready to Sue the PA Department of Education Over Common Core Testing

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Pennsylvania State Sen. Andrew Dinniman is mad as Hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.

The West Chester Democrat is furious at the state Department of Education (PDE) over the Keystone Exams.

In February, the legislature unanimously passed a law to delay for two years using the Keystones as a graduation requirement for public school students. The exams will still be given to high school students in Algebra I, Biology and English, but passing them is not necessary to receive a diploma. During this time, the legislature is supposed to investigate alternate assessments above and beyond standardized testing.

However, Dinniman sent out an email to supporters this week claiming PDE is “blatantly ignoring the law and issuing directives to local school districts to use the exam if they want to for graduation.”

This goes against the delay, says Dinniman. The legislature is unsure requiring the Keystone Exam…

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3 responses to “State Senator: Get Ready to Sue the PA Department of Education Over Common Core Testing”

  1. kavips Avatar
    kavips

    That is a good legislator… One has to wonder at Delaware’s timidity when it comes to those we elect… Do the spike the water fountains in Legislative Hall? Occasionally we get some bluster, but no real lawsuits……

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  2. kavips Avatar
    kavips

    Again, it comes down to the test… A test rooted in facts might actually be good to test general knowledge… But these tests where no knowledgeable adult can decipher what the question says, where no knowledgeable adult knows what the “best” correct answer out of 5 correct answers, is, and ones grade seems spit out of a little black box almost by random based on your racial data, not the test itself; these tests, must disappear…

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  3. john kowalko Avatar
    john kowalko

    Kevin and Kavips,
    I met with Senator Dinniman at his request little more than a year ago since he wanted to talk with me about the Opt_Out struggle here (before jack’s veto)
    and was hoping to put something similar together in PA. He is indeed a wonderfully progressive legislator and I enjoyed commiserating with him.
    Representative John Kowalko

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