Standardized Testing in Illinois Banned Just Days Before PARCC Testing to Begin!

ILLINOIS – The state of Illinois has issued a new law that is set to begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, March 9 that makes standardized testing illegal. School districts throughout the state are torn, as these tests are used to measure the amount of state and federal funding they receive in the following school year. However, supporters of the new legislation say that standardized testing is too stressful for students and may in fact make them hate school even more than they already do. Teachers are also glad to see the testing go, as they do not feel that it is fair for them to be judged on student test scores that the students cannot properly study for. “I think it’s great”, said one teacher in a downstate middle school, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “My pay check has been less and less these past few years since Illinois started the PARCC test. I haven’t been able to show as many videos (instead of teaching) as I have in past years, and those paid summers off have been filled with two part-time jobs. It really hasn’t been as easy as I had heard teaching was supposed to be!” With this landmark ruling approaching, other states are expected to follow suit. As one student who recently moved from Illinois to Alaska put it, “It really isn’t fair. Why should I have to take a test in my new school when I lived in Illinois my whole life? Why are students in other states forced to take these tests when students in Illinois schools basically just have to show up for attendance?”