WHEREAS, about 45 teachers in Chicago, most of them at Maria Saucedo Elementary Scholastic Academy, recently joined a parent-led boycott of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT); and

WHEREAS, the protest began with parents concerned that the ISAT, which is being retired next year, was utterly without purpose this year for students and teachers ─it will neither inform instruction nor count toward student promotion or teacher evaluation; and

WHEREAS, when the ISAT was administered in early March, about 1,700 students at dozens across the city opted out of the test; and

WHEREAS, the only reason that Chicago schools administered the ISAT is to satisfy an accountability provision of the federal No Child Left Behind law, even though more than half of all states have sought waivers from such NCLB requirements; and

WHEREAS, the 45 teachers who refused to administer the test have been threatened by Chicago school officials with disciplinary measures that include decertification; and

WHEREAS, the protests against the ISAT also reflect a growing frustration among educators and parents around the country that the destructive overemphasis on standardized tests crowds out authentic teaching and learning; and

WHEREAS, the UFT is a leader in the movement to de-emphasize standardized testing including through the union’s work for a moratorium on the use of tests for student promotion and teacher evaluation in New York State and for a state ban on standardized testing in pre-K through 2^nd grade; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT recognizes the Chicago teachers for helping to bring national attention to growing concerns about the overemphasis on standardized testing in schools; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT calls on leaders of the Chicago Public Schools to rescind their threats of punishment against the teachers who joined parents in boycotting the ISAT.