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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 214 Introduced in House (IH)]

105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 214

     Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     Department of Education should suspend any and all planning, 
development, implementation, or administration of any national testing 
   proposal in reading, mathematics, or any other subject area until 
       Congress provides specific, explicit statutory authority.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 1997

   Mr. Goodling (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Petri, Mr. Owens, Mr. 
 Ballenger, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Sam 
Johnson of Texas, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Graham, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Norwood, 
 Mr. Paul, Mr. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, 
  Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Hilleary, Mr. Scarborough, Mr. Goode, Mr. 
   Hefley, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Chambliss) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
     Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the 
     Department of Education should suspend any and all planning, 
development, implementation, or administration of any national testing 
   proposal in reading, mathematics, or any other subject area until 
       Congress provides specific, explicit statutory authority.

Whereas President Clinton first announced on February 4, 1997, his plan to 
        develop and implement national tests for reading at grade 4 and 
        mathematics at grade 8;
Whereas during the period between February and May 1997, the Department of 
        Education has moved ahead expeditiously to begin the process for 
        developing the tests, without specific, explicit statutory authority;
Whereas the Department of Education has proceeded to publish a Request for 
        Proposal on April 25, 1997, for contractual assistance for development 
        of the tests and intends to sign contracts on or after June 24, 1997, 
        for such test development;
Whereas the Department of Education has stated that it intends to spend, for 
        test development, up to $12,000,000 in each of 1997 and 1998 from the 
        Fund for the Improvement of Education authorized in part A of title X of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
Whereas the Fund for the Improvement of Education provides no specific, explicit 
        authority for the Department of Education to develop or implement 
        national tests;
Whereas the legislative history of the Fund for the Improvement of Education 
        does not mention or indicate any intention to establish national 
        testing;
Whereas the language of section 10101(b)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (relating to the Fund for the Improvement of 
        Education) provides authority merely for the ``development and 
        evaluation of model strategies for assessment of student learning'' 
        rather than authority for the development of actual national assessments 
        or tests;
Whereas the language of section 10101(b)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (relating to the Fund for the Improvement of 
        Education) is intended to apply to the support of State and local 
        education activities, rather than national test development activities;
Whereas, by contrast, the 1994 changes to the National Assessment of Educational 
        Progress (NAEP) (20 U.S.C. 9010(c)) came about after extensive 
        congressional consultations, 6 hearings over a 21-month period, and the 
        development of specific and explicit legislative language;
Whereas the tests developed by NAEP protect the confidentiality of personally 
        identifiable information about students, their educational performance, 
        and information about individual schools, the same statutory protections 
        are not provided for in the Clinton Administration's testing program;
Whereas, given the magnitude of the Administration's national testing proposal 
        and its policy implications, the Department of Education, at a minimum, 
        should send to Congress a bill specifically and explicitly providing for 
        such testing; and
Whereas full and open debate of such a bill in Congress would provide 
        opportunity for the American people to be heard through the normal 
        legislative process: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Department of Education should not expend funds in fiscal year 1997 
or in any subsequent year for the planning, development, 
implementation, or administration of any national testing proposal in 
reading, mathematics, or any other subject area until such time as 
Congress provides specific, explicit statutory authority.
                                 <all>
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