If elected, would former Vice President Joe Biden let schools off the hook for administering federally mandated standardized tests this year?
A policy adviser was noncommittal on the issue Thursday, saying such a decision would be left to Biden鈥檚 transition team and to a new administration.
鈥淭he honest answer is this is an important question a Biden-Harris transition team would have to look into,鈥� Biden Policy Director Stef Feldman told a virtual panel held by the Education Writers Association. 鈥淚n some ways, the answer to this question depends on how much progress we can make in supporting our schools and getting them up and running.鈥�
The statement comes after U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told state education leaders in September during the 2020-21 school year if President Donald Trump is reelected.
It also comes after a 2020 campaign in which Biden has repeatedly expressed and using their results for . That may have led some to assume he would be more open to waiving the testing requirements for an additional school year.
Feldman was reluctant to clarify a few other key campaign pledges during a question-and-answer session with education reporters Thursday. For example, Biden has previously pledged to appoint someone with 鈥減ublic school teaching experience鈥� as education secretary, seeking to draw a contrast with DeVos. Feldman would not say Thursday if 鈥減ublic school experience鈥� could include people who鈥檝e taught at public colleges and universities.
鈥淭he vice president hasn鈥檛 gone beyond saying it will be a person with public school experience, so I will leave it at that,鈥� she said.
She also addressed the candidate鈥檚 positions on charter schools, accountability, and school funding.
Schools and Testing During COVID-19 Pandemic
The Every Student Succeeds Act, the federal education law, requires states to test students in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. After initially resisting broad waivers from that requirement after schools closed in March, DeVos later allowed states to opt out when it was clear few, if any, schools would reopen for in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.
Some school leaders, and education officials in states like Georgia and Michigan, have advocated for testing waivers for the current academic year. It may be logistically difficult to administer state tests if rolling school closures continue into 2021, they鈥檝e argued. And the school year has had unprecedented conditions for all students, regardless of whether they鈥檝e learned online or in-person.
But advocates for continued state testing say the results are necessary to monitor students鈥� progress. Two years without such data would make it even more difficult to hold schools accountable and to direct efforts to get students back on track as the nation eventually pulls out of the pandemic, they鈥檝e said. States have already warned of a 鈥淐OVID slide鈥� in academic achievement and of students who are repeatedly absent from online and in-person classes as their families grapple with joblessness and lack of child care.
The issue doesn鈥檛 cut neatly across partisan lines.
鈥淭here is broad and consistent support for assessments because there is general agreement among the public that a student鈥檚 achievement should be measured, that parents deserve to know how their children are performing, and that it should be no secret how a school鈥檚 performance as a whole compares to other schools,鈥� DeVos said in her September letter.
Some congressional Democrats鈥攍ike House education committee chairman Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Senate education committee ranking member Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash鈥攈ave also stressed the importance of continued state testing.
But some state chiefs, even elected Republicans, have said testing is not realistic this year.
Feldman鈥檚 answer seemed to pivot back to the core of Biden鈥檚 plan for reopening schools, which focuses heavily on providing more resources through a large federal aid package. That would help pay for materials like plexiglass dividers and masks, she said, and it would also help schools with adequate staffing do things like reduce class sizes and provide added supports to students who鈥檝e dealt with interrupted education.
Asked if a Biden administration would put any additional pressure on schools to reopen their buildings, or provide any incentive for them to do so, Feldman said those decisions would remain in the hands of local decisionmakers.
Biden鈥檚 school reopening plans call for clear, objective federal guidelines that are sensitive to the rate of virus transmission in the local area. He has criticized the Trump administration for a lack of clarity on the issue and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency鈥檚 refusal to reimburse schools for protective gear like masks.
鈥淧resident Trump seems to think this isn鈥檛 an emergency, but Vice President Biden thinks differently,鈥� Feldman said.
Ambitious Funding Plans
Though she stressed that Biden鈥檚 education plans are unique to him, Feldman rejected opportunities to draw daylight between Biden and former President Barack Obama on issues like charter schools and accountability. Obama took some actions to encourage the growth of charter schools and the adoption of more-rigorous state learning standards.
Biden鈥檚 plans, on the other hand, call for new federal restrictions on funding for 鈥渇or-profit charter schools鈥� and other efforts to rein in the sector.
The Biden plan 鈥減rioritizes investing in our public neighborhood schools,鈥� Feldman said in a response to a question about the differences. 鈥淭hose are the schools that educate the vast majority of our students in this country, and there is a vast deficiency between the funding they need and the funding they have.鈥�
Biden has called for tripling Title I funding that supports educating students from low-income households, 鈥渇ully funding鈥� the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, including schools in a broad federal infrastructure package, and additional federal COVID-19 relief.
Those ambitious proposals would rely in part on changing tax law for high earners, requiring support from Congress. Could he get it done?
鈥淲e are confident that Vice President Biden, if elected, would be able to get some big, bold education legislation passed,鈥� Feldman said.
Photo: Former Vice President Joe Biden --Getty Images