President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the nationwide cancellation of the SAT college entry exam as well as all standardized tests for students amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic.
‘With many schools closed due to the virus, the Department of Education will not enforce standardized testing requirements, very importantly,’ Trump said at his coronavirus briefing Friday.
‘For students in elementary through high school for the current year, they’ve been through a lot.
‘They’ve been going back and forth, school’s open, school’s not open….Standardized testing and you know, we’re not going to be enforcing that so you can let the people know.’
President Trump on Friday said that the SAT college entry exams and other standardized testing would be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic
The SAT is taken by high school students to measure their abilities in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The above photo is a stock image
The president added: ‘Probably a lot of the students will be extremely happy. Some probably not.
‘The ones that work hard maybe not, but you know it’s one of those things.’
In a statement, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said: ‘Students need to be focused on staying healthy and continuing to learn.
‘Teachers need to be able to focus on remote learning and other adaptations.
‘Neither students nor teachers need to be focused on high-stakes tests during this difficult time.
‘Students are simply too unlikely to be able to perform their best in this environment.
‘Our actions today provide turnkey flexibilities for state and local leaders to focus on the immediate needs of their students and educators without worrying about federal repercussions.
‘I’ve spoken with many local education leaders in the past days, and I’m inspired by their efforts to help their students continue to learn and grow.
‘We’re going to continue to provide every flexibility possible to help make that as simple as possible.’
Trump also said his administration would allow students who borrowed money to pay for college to suspend their payments without penalty for at least 60 days.
Earlier this week, the president announced that he would waive interest on federal student loans ‘until further notice.’
The announcement on Friday is a step up, as it gives borrowers a reprieve from payment for two months.
‘We’ve temporarily waived all interest on federally held student loans,’ Trump told reporters during his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Friday.
‘They’ll be very happy to hear that and I’ve instructed them to take that action immediately.’
Trump added: ‘Today, Betsy Devos directed federal lenders to allow borrowers to suspend their student loans and loan payments without penalty for at least the next 60 days, and if we need more we’ll extend that period of time.’
‘Borrowers should contact their lenders, but we’ve given them very strong instructions,’ Trump added.
‘That’s a big thing, that’s going to make a lot of students very happy.’
In light of the coronavirus outbreak, it was also announced on Friday that tax filing day would be pushed back from its traditional April 15 date to July 15.
Earlier this week, several states canceled standardized testing for this academic year as they face school closures that could last weeks or months.
The tests were scheduled to begin in early April in many states.
Earlier this week, several states asked Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to waive the requirement for standardized testing after mass school closures due to the coronavirus outbreak
While that’s easing the burden on students and teachers, it’s also creating problems.
The federal government requires states to perform annual standardized assessments under the Every Student Succeeds Act.
And education groups warn that moving classes online won’t deliver equitable learning across states, school districts and even within classrooms.
Several states asked DeVos to waive those requirements.
The department has said states can apply for a waiver on a case-by-case basis, but no blanket waiver was announced until Trump’s comments on Friday.
In a recent advisory to schools, the department said it generally doesn’t grant broad waivers from the assessments that provide valuable information for parents, teachers and schools.
But it said it would consider a targeted waiver for schools badly hit by the current ‘extraordinary circumstances.’
‘It’s time for Betsy DeVos to do the right thing on behalf of our students and waive statewide assessments,’ Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday.
‘When our kids get back to school, our number one priority must be ensuring they have the resources they need to get back on track.’
Bipartisan U.S. talks expected on rescue for coronavirus-hit economy
US senators from both parties were expected to meet on Friday along with Trump administration officials to try to devise a rescue plan for an economy reeling from the coronavirus, after Republicans made a $1trillion opening bid.
The massive Republican package unveiled on Thursday includes checks of up to $1,200 for many Americans, and hundreds of billions of dollars in loans for small businesses and industries.
It also would allow Americans a breather on filing their income taxes until July. They are normally due in April.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the package after talks with the White House and his fellow Republicans.
He then invited Democrats to join them in negotiations on Friday, along with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow.
McConnell vowed the Senate would not adjourn until it had taken action and sent a measure to the Democratic-led House of Representatives, but any vote was probably days away.
Democrats said they were ready to talk, but were also wary, noting they had not been involved in drafting the plan.
The Trump administration will now negotiate with leading members of Congress including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (above) about another economic stimulus package
‘To earn Democratic support in the Congress, any economic stimulus proposal must include new, strong and strict provisions that prioritize and protect workers, such as banning the recipient companies from buying back stock, rewarding executives and laying off workers,’ Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement with his fellow Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the chamber’s Appropriations Committee, issued a harsh statement on Thursday evening, calling the Republican plan a non-starter.
‘The McConnell/Trump Republican proposal puts the interests of corporations over workers and American families,’ he said.
‘This proposal contains no funding for first responders, child care, schools, help for the homeless, or veterans medical care, to name a few,’ Leahy said.
The package is the third taken up by Congress since the coronavirus erupted in the United States.
The highly contagious respiratory disease had infected 12,259 people in the country and killed 200 as of Thursday night.
It has shut schools, businesses and wide swaths of American life, and sent the stock market into a tailspin.
Congress passed an $8.3billion measure earlier this month to combat the coronavirus outbreak and develop vaccines.
On Wednesday, lawmakers approved and Trump signed a $105billion-plus plan to limit the damage through free testing, paid sick leave and expanded safety-net spending.
A key plank in the latest measure is direct payments of up to $1,200 for individuals earning up to $75,000 annually, a Senate Finance Committee statement said. Students would be allowed to defer payments on student loans.
The bill also includes $300 billion for small businesses, and $208 billion in loans for distressed industries, including $50 billion for passenger airlines and $8billion for cargo air carriers.
Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (above) want to ensure that any relief package includes protections for workers
‘We are not bailing out the airlines or other industries – period,’ Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, a Republican, told reporters.
Instead the government would guarantee collateralized loans to industries hurt by the outbreak, he said.
But Shelby and some other Republicans were not fans of the proposal to send direct payments to individuals.
Leaders in the House were trying to work out new voting procedures that would allow them to reconvene without endangering members after two members tested positive for the virus and a number of others decided to self-quarantine.