Utah Board of Education Flirts with Turning Away up to $123 Million a Year over Letting Parents Opt Their Kids out of Testing
February 2, 2018
By: Benjamin Wood
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
The Utah Board of Education voted Thursday to request a special exception to federal laws that require public-school students to participate in year-end testing.
But some board members argued that Utah should intentionally reject those federal rules, which could put as much as $123 million in funding for low-income and special education students in the state at risk.
“If these services are as important as we feel they are, then we need to be petitioning our Legislature to fund them,” school board vice-chairwoman Alisa Ellis said, “instead of seeking approval from a federal government that has no constitutional authority to be directing education in our state.”