As required by the federal government, state testing has once again come upon our schools. Over the next few weeks New York State children in grades three through eight will be sitting for assessments in Mathematics and English Language Arts. Fifth and eighth graders will also be taking a science exam.

The New York State Education Department did not make much mention of the 2024 exam results nor did the media print their usual school comparison showing how each area school district fared on these proficiency exams. Could it be that the 2024 statewide results were just as middling as they have been for going on 30 years? Maybe worse? The 2024 versions of the recently updated grades five and eight science exams were ridiculously more difficult than the same science tests that had been given year after year prior. Students traditionally fared quite well on these science exams and much better than they did in Math and ELA. Could it be that the 2024 science exam results were abysmal compared to years past? And once again the results of all these state exams were not made available to schools and parents until months after the exams were given. This delay in reporting allows the state to curve and manipulate the exam score data to show their desired results. Have the raw score results been even worse than the curved sore results that have been traditionally reported?

In June, high school students will be administered an Algebra Regents Exam that is currently a graduation requirement. In order to prevent large numbers of failures on the Algebra Regents, a 30 plus point curve has been applied to the exam every year for the past two plus decades. While this exam curve is necessary to allow large numbers of students to graduate, it also allows those same students to leave high school knowing little to nothing about Algebra. Recently SED has discussed alternate assessments that will allow students to show their proficiency in mathematics and other subjects rather than pass regents exams. Why did it take these educational experts almost three decades to realize that applying a 30 point curve to a regents exam is not a best practice? Why does NYSED continue to push a grades 3-8 curriculum and testing program that has been, by their own metrics, a colossal failure?

Over the last three decades we have had four presidents, four governors, and three NYSED commissioners who have all been involved in this education reform. Communities across the state and the country have watched our government pour billions of dollars into the implementation of new educational standards and the preparation for and the administration of this required testing. This education reform has been a failure and a waste of taxpayer money. This same wasteful boondoggle has been a huge money maker for textbook, testing and tech companies. In addition to state exams, students are now tested for proficiency by way of programs such as STAR Math, STAR Reading and I-Ready. The names of the new and improved standards have changed from Common Core Learning Standards to Next Generation Learning Standards but the results from the testing of these standards have not. The United States Department of Education has changed the name of their Ed Reform three times. Race to the Top became No Child Left Behind which then became the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Common Core Curriculum has become The Next Generation of Learning Standards. All this curriculum review and test preparation and poor proficiency rates are still the result.

The USDOE performs some vital and very important tasks needed to help students across our country succeed. Continuing to push an ineffective curriculum and poorly designed testing program is not one of them. President Donald Trump, head of DOGE Elon Musk and USDOE education czar Linda McMahon have made sweeping cuts in USDOE spending. Many of these cuts will hurt children in the long run. It’s time for Trump, Musk and McMahon to put away the ridiculous chainsaw and make surgical cuts to the USDOE so that vital programs are continued and this wasteful education reform and testing requirement is put to an end. Then let’s hope New York State follows suit. It’s time to return to basic educational standards and stop over testing our students.

Andrew Ludwig is a former math teacher and a recently retired school administrator.