We are writing to express our concern that the U.S. Department of Education is discouraging states from including student performance in science as a priority within their accountability frameworks — something that is clearly permitted under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Specifically, we are referring to the Department’s June 13 letter to Delaware Education Secretary Susan Bunting regarding Delaware’s ESSA accountability plan.

Actively discouraging states from including science as an ESSA accountability measure would be a poor policy choice. It is also inconsistent with numerous public statements made by President Trump and Secretary DeVos regarding the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and the goal of maintaining a world-class American workforce.

High-quality STEM education — that starts with science in the early years — plays a monumental role in ensuring our nation’s competitiveness in the global economy and technological leadership. We should not be backing away from science being taught and measured in our schools; instead, we should be encouraging state leaders to pursue ambitious policies that prioritize science education.

Fifteen years of data and experience with the No Child Left Behind Act clearly demonstrated that the law’s narrow focus on math and reading has negatively impacted science education. The time and resources devoted to science education — especially in our nation’s elementary classrooms — plummeted because science scores were not counted in many states. We have already learned the destructive lesson that “if it’s not tested, it’s not taught,” and we should not repeat past mistakes.