House lawmakers overwhelmingly signed on to a bill that would allow Delaware parents to opt their children out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Thursday.
The 36 to 3 vote with two absent came after about five minutes of comments – a large contrast to a committee hearing that stretched more than two hours.
Kids are already allowed to skip the state’s standardized test with parental permission, several of which have done so in the past few weeks.
Those pushing the bill have strongly criticized the test and its association with the Common Core State Standards, while maintaining that the proposal and those feelings are completely separate.
Gov. Jack Markell (D), a strong supporter of Smarter Balanced, calls it “a bad bill”.
It now awaits a committee hearing in the Senate.
