Lauren Saltalamacchia

Honorable Committee Members, I am writing to express my strong support for HB 1571 to revise academic standards. My children have attended private school for the past 4 years and switched to public school this year. I was not prepared for the academic differences we are seeing. To begin with, many schools utilize Aimsweb testing which as of August 2025 has new LOWERED reading standards. Why are we lowering the bar for our children? Additionally, my children have gone from meeting or excelling standards in private school, to struggling across the board suddenly. My child who has always been a strong math student is coming home frustrated and not understanding the way math concepts are being taught in public school. My first grade student has gone from age expected phonemic awareness skills to being recommended for RTI. When my child comes home with a failed spelling test, I have to spend my afternoon giving him direct instruction, which he responds to and retains. Teachers spend all day blindly following their Common Core instruction books to teach to the test and hope their students pass, instead of feeling the freedom to slow down and teach their students what they actually need. Common Core is helping NO ONE. Regards, Lauren Saltalamacchia