The rest of the state's delegation voted no. The requirement appears to hold majority support in the Senate, which is considering its own version of an education overhaul. Both versions promise more federal funding in exchange for state-led efforts to leverage better academic results out of mediocre or failing schools. Approval of the overall bill in the House could come as early as today. Still pending is a fight over providing federal money for private-school tuition, a Bush proposal that has been omitted from the legislation.
Republicans plan to push for amendments to authorize such voucher payments.
Under the plan endorsed by the House, all students would be tested in reading and math in grades three through eight. But critics argue testing has drained creativity from the classroom and resulted in teachers spending an inordinate amount of time drilling students on test material and test-taking skills. In addition, high failure rates have prompted nearly a third of 23 states that have authorized high-school exit exams to rethink their initial plans. This month, eighth-graders in three New York communities refused to take the state's standardized test. Protests over testing also have occurred in Massachusetts, California and Michigan.