Families in Illinois need a clear guarantee of their right to protect children from the misuse and overuse of standardized testing.  

Members of the Illinois House of Representatives introduced and passed HB306 last year, a bill that creates clear and consistent policy for parents to opt their children out of state-mandated testing with no negative consequences.

Now, we need the Illinois Senate to do the same and take action on this important bill.

Around the state some schools are telling students who opt out of state tests they must sit and stare during testing sessions without even a book to read. Other students are told that they won’t be able to participate in school activities if they don’t take the state test. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has now started investigating districts with low participation rates, threatening to interrogate parents and even students about opt out.

Parents should have a say in this matter! Currently, students can “refuse” a state test, but parents are told they have no rights to opt their children out. ISBE says even students as young as eight must refuse the test themselves. And there are no exceptions---even for special needs children who are non-verbal.

Many states already have opt out laws and have seen no drop in school performance or loss of funds from the federal government. More than 600,000 students across the nation opted out of state tests last year---including 44,000 students in Illinois---and no district or school has ever lost any funding due to opt out. HB 306, modeled on a law in Utah, would compel ISBE to ensure that no student, teacher, school, or district will be adversely affected by students opting out.

Our students now spend unprecedented amounts of the school year taking standardized tests. These tests often dominate the academic year’s curriculum because of the enormity of the stakes attached for students, teachers, schools and districts.

To fight the misuse and overuse of standardized testing in public schools and the narrowing of the curriculum that comes as a result, families will continue to refuse state-mandated testing in large numbers. We need to ensure that all Illinois parents have the ability to protect their children from excessive and inappropriate standardized testing.

Send a letter to your state senator and ask them to support HB306.