Dive Brief:

• The Maine House of Representatives has OKed a bill, which protects the rights of parents to opt their children out of high-stakes exams. 
• While parents can already opt their kids out of testing, the bill requires the state Department of Education to make sure parents are made aware of their rights. 
• If the state's Senate passes the bill, the DoE will have to produce a guidance each year detailing both federal and state laws around standardized testing. 

Dive Insight:

This puts the department and schools in an interesting position. While federal law says schools can risk funding if less than 95% of the student body sits for a standardized exam, this new law would potentially lead to more students opting out and schools not meeting that threshold. 

Interestingly, Maine is one of the first states to really be proactive about parents having all the information on standardized testing. This is compared to, say, Kentucky where outgoing Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said that schools honoring parents' requests to opt their children out of standardized tests do so at their own risk. In April, Holliday sent a letter to district superintendents saying students who don't take the exam will get an automatic zero, which will then be averaged into their school's accountability score, which determines funding and whether or not the school stays open. 

Of course, legislators in Kentucky and other states could still step in, as those in Maine have, to make sure parents in the state are aware of their rights.