On Monday, the Arizona State House voted to guarantee the rights of parents to determine whether their children can opt-out of high stakes testing. HB 2246 passed on a 35-24 vote.
The measure now goes to the Senate for their consideration.
Surprisingly, it was Democrat lawmakers who fought in defense of mandatory high stakes testing contrary to the opposition to it by most teachers unions.
The state Board of Education scrambled to adopt the AzMERIT tests, and requiring schools to administer the tests beginning this year.
One Democrat lawmaker went so far as to suggest that teachers would exploit parents by convincing them to opt their children out of tests in order maintain or improve the annual grades given to schools by the Arizona Department of Education.
Across the country, parents have been fighting for the right to opt their children out of high stakes testing . Parents, teachers, and education advocates have been especially concerned about the testing associated with Common Core due to its data gathering functionality.