MARYLAND ALLIANCE OF PARENTS & STUDENTS JOINS ELECTED OFFICIALS IN A CALL FOR ANSWERS FROM THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT
MARYLAND ALLIANCE OF PARENTS & STUDENTS JOINS ELECTED OFFICIALS IN A CALL FOR ANSWERS FROM THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kerry Gillespie
April 21, 2023 Chair
Annapolis, Maryland ̶ Maryland Alliance of Parents and Students Chair Kerry Gillespie makes the following statement:
“Parents around the state demand answers regarding the recent discrepancies in test scores released by the Maryland State Department of Education. The statement released by Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury here: https://marylandpublicschools.org/newsroom/Documents/statements/Letter-Fox45-Report_4.20_A.pdf) does not address the concerns of transparency and accountability as a State Educational Agency. Any legitimate oversight requiring significant changes in published data should have been preemptively messaged to stakeholders. Addressing it after the fact creates doubt in the community and watchdog groups who rightly flagged this discrepancy. This lack of transparency occurred after concerns were brought by Legislators about waiting until January to release state testing numbers.” (September 13, 2022)
On April 19, 2023, a digital communication was sent from eight members of the House of Delegates requesting that student data be restored for parents, educators and the public to view for information and evaluation.
Delegate Nic Kipke, who was one of the eight signees, additionally stated that: “The Maryland State Department of Education requires rigorous standardized testing of our young students. We are now seven months into the school year and still do not have access to accurate data. It is a failure of government to remove valuable classroom time in lieu of testing, particularly after an unprecedented absence from classrooms. Students are still recovering academically after the closure of school buildings.”
Delegate Seth Howard stated: “This event is the antithesis of the role of testing in our public schools and has depleted an already low account of our trust. Every Marylander-not just those with children in schools-should be concerned by a state agency changing publicly posted data. MSDE is clearly trying to hide from their failures in their essential role of educating our children. We all expect and pay for a quality education to help produce a quality workforce and citizens; where is the return on investment for the ever increasing supply of tax dollars we are funneling into schools? I support taking action from the state, and pushing for legislation calling for a 3rd party investigation locally and at state level.”
Chairwoman Gillespie also stated that “Our kids deserve better from The Maryland Department of Education; they can either admit they are incompetent, or they are intentionally hiding test scores to hide their incompetence.”