LCCR Letter to President Clinton on the Administration’s National Test Proposal

Recipient:

The undersigned members of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights write to urge you to adopt several important changes in your plan for voluntary national tests in reading and mathematics. If these changes are made, it would enable many of our member organizations to support implementation of the national test proposal.

At the outset we wish to express our appreciation for the attention you have given to the improvement of public education and our support for the broad goals contained in the proposals you have made. Our organizations oppose discrimination in the schools based on race, national origin, sex or condition of disability. We represent many children of color, children with limited proficiency in English and children with disabilities and girls all of whom have suffered discrimination and stereotyping in the public schools, have been denied critical teaching resources and have had their life chances impaired by the failure of the schools to offer them a chance to succeed.