WHEREAS, when Chancellor Banks first introduced his initiative of a Multi-Tiered System of Support, he said, "When I talk about reimagining the school experience so that it's relevant to our students and excites them, this is what I mean. Why don't we provide the kind of experiences where kids can't wait to get up in the morning to get to school?” and

WHEREAS, high-stakes standardized testing has led to a narrowing of the curriculum to focus only on reading and math, thereby impeding Chancellor Banks’ initiative to make school experiences exciting for students; and

WHEREAS, the fixation with high-stakes standardized testing has led us to only teach to the test at the expense of other important subject areas, including art and music; and

WHEREAS, New York City students have already been through the loss and pain of the pandemic, and we need to address students' mental and emotional health needs rather than increase pressure on them with high-stakes standardized test taking and test prep; and

WHEREAS, although the federal government requires some annual testing as part of distributing federal funding for all schools, it does not require that high stakes be attached to these tests. Removing these high stakes would mitigate the pressure on our students and move us toward eliminating test prep; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT call on the Panel for Educational Policy to end high-stakes standardized testing in grades 3-5 so schools and teachers can focus on curriculum that promotes students’ academic performance as well as their well-being; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT call on the Panel for Educational Policy to focus on academic intervention supports and programs for our students who have fallen behind academically due to the pandemic and to support our students’ learning by giving schools the support and resources they deserve.