Posted on 05/31/2003 3:26:11 PM PDT by chance33_98
Home-school testing repeal near final OK
(Salem-AP) - Oregon's home-schooled students would no longer have to take periodic achievement tests under a measure that moved close to final legislative approval on Thursday.
The Senate-passed bill was endorsed 34-to-25 by the House, returning the measure to the Senate for action on amendments.
Advocates say it would free parents from an unneeded state requirement that doesn't apply to children in private schools.
Critics say eliminating the tests would remove the only way to ensure students are being adequately taught at home.
State law now requires that home-schooled students take nationally recognized, standardized tests in grades three, five, eight and ten.
State School Superintendent Susan Castillo opposes the bill.
If mandatory testing is eliminated, she said in a letter to legislators, there will be nothing to prevent an irresponsible or incompetent parent from simply keeping a child out of school and providing no education at all.
And what prevents a government school from locking kids up for years at a time and providing no education at all? Nothing.
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