CAROL FLEMING: AEA president calls for suspending standardized tests. Brian Chilson

The Arkansas Education Association has asked Education Secretary Johnny Key to suspend standardized testing for the 2020-21 school year. The education group also asked the state to suspend the Teacher Evaluation and Support System (TESS) and Arkansas history professional development time.

“Educators must have the time and other resources to determine how best to offer safety, support and educational opportunity to all of Arkansas’s public-school students during the 2020-2021 school year. Taking these actions will aid in achieving that goal,” the letter from AEA president Carol Fleming and executive director Tracey-Ann Nelson concludes.

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Key is expected to appear at the governor’s daily COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 5, so he’s likely to give his answer on the matter then.

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