But some board members argued that Utah should intentionally reject those federal rules, which could put as much as $123 million in funding for low-income and special education students in the state at risk.
States are required to submit plans to the U.S. Department of Education detailing how they intend to comply with and put in place the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, which passed in 2015. Among that law’s provisions is the annual testing of students in grades three through eight and at least one high school testing cycle in grade 11.
Utah law has expanded on those federal testing requirements, relying on annual testing as a basis for several accountability programs, such as school grading and funding to help lagging schools to improve.