Schools in New York across the state on Wednesday closed their doors for at least the next two weeks as the state works to limit the number of new coronavirus cases. 

In response, the New York State United Teachers union is calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to waive state testing mandates for children in grades 3-8 for the rest of the school year. 

“This is not the time to create more stress for our kids,” NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said. “It is critical that the federal government step up now and waive mandated state testing for all kids for the rest of this school year and the duration of this crisis.”

The union say that if schools do re-open in two weeks, students would still not have enough time to prepare for the tests. They say that this puts New York students at a disadvantage and will skew the results of the test. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state are also looking at ways to assist students and school districts during these closures.

Earlier this week, Cuomo said that the requirement that schools remain open for at least 180 days is temporarily suspended to allow schools to close for the next two weeks. However, if the Governor decides to reopen schools and districts stay closed, than the district will not be exempt from this law.