In Letter to Riley, GOP Lawmakers Seek Details of Testing Plan

Washington

Congressional Republicans let Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley know last week that they have no intention of being left out of the loop when it comes to the Clinton administration's proposals for new national tests.

President Clinton's plan for voluntary national tests in 4th grade reading and 8th grade mathematics constitutes "a major change in federal education policy," said a March 5 letter to Mr. Riley from four prominent House lawmakers, including Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pa., the chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, and Rep. John Porter, R-Ill., who heads the appropriations...