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SALT LAKE CITY — State educators want to know why more parents are opting their kids out of standardized tests.
The Utah Board of Education plans to do an audit or a survey on the subject.
The state school board says hopefully the findings can help them find out why more parents are opting their students out, and show how they could address problems to get more participation. They say they need to measure how students are doing, and testing is part of education.
Federal law requires a 95 percent participation rate in order to get federal funding. But last year there was almost a 6 percent opt-out rate.
But the audit is coming with some controversy. Some board members say this kind of survey will infringe on parental rights. State law allows parents to opt kids out, and they say parents don’t have to answer why.