Dive Brief:

• Delaware’s state legislature wrapped up its session Wednesday and with the close of the session, The News Journal says it was one of the most contentious and education-centric sessions in recent years.
• The state's governor, Jack Markell, billed himself as an "education governor" and has initiated aggressive school reforms in the state, including to testing and charter schools, and the session saw many of his reforms under fire.
• A bill that would allow Delaware parents to remove their students from state testing, in particular, generated heated debate and passed the legislature by a wide margin but was opposed by the governor's administration. He has not yet signed it in into law and has 10 days to veto it.

Dive Insight:

As most of the state legislative sessions have wrapped up or are winding down, the implications of what this season has wrought on education policy remain to be decided. Around the country, states faced vigorous battles over education policy. The past year saw some of the strongest political opposition to education initiatives backed by President Obama and the Department of Education. Chicago, Ill. and others have seen vigorous pushback against teacher evaluation rubrics, with some districts trying to find ways to evade state-mandated structures. Colorado is in the midst of reviewing and overhauling its state testing regimen. The anti-testing movement, in particular, gained steam this year with mass outpost at schools in New York, Colorado and Delaware.

As the dust settles, test scores are released and teacher evaluations are finalized, what those political forces have wrought will become clearer. Stay tuned.