Mercedes Schneider is one of the few people I know (outside of Congressional staff) who has read every word of the proposed legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (now called No Child Left Behind).
In this post, she explains that both bills remove any penalties for parents who choose to opt out. It is up to the states to determine whether parents are allowed to opt out of testing, but there will be no federal penalties if they do.
In states that are either silent on the matter of opting out or that explicitly ban it, parents can still opt it. They are the parents, and they can decide what is in the best interest of their child.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It sounds as though the triumvirate of great minds, Elia, Tisch and Cuomo, will decide whether kids can opt out without penalty. Am I reading this wrong?
Art, with the ECAA, the states will decide about opt-out policy, but the catch is that they cannot blame the feds for the state stance. If the states decide to hardline the issue and parents opt-out anyway, the states will have to answer for any Title I penalty. It will be on their heads; so, they are forced to reckon with the issue of being rigid and having parents ignore them. Plus, the ECAA requires that states publicize their opt-out policy at the beginning of the school year. No hiding it from the public, or declaring it at the last minute.
Deutsch29…this is really good. But there is one concern… there are many states that make it illegal to opt out and will do EVERYTHING in their power to make the parents THINK that States now have the last say on all matters of testing. They can post this Federal notice on any nondescript wall in a school and are literally “following the law”. And many parents will look no further – believing what is told to them. Knowing that Title One schools now in all states will have to pay Federal penalties is definitely an “assist” to parents wanting to Opt Out their children – but the devil is in the details. It would be nice if hand-outs (in as reader friendly a way as possible and translated into first languages) were made available to parent coordinators at Title One public schools (along with a copy of the new law).
Also, is “Opt Out” an informational “go to” that any parents being strong-armed by their school districts can go to for seeking advice?
Yeah, the axis of elitist thuggery. The underworld is the overworld.
“The whole world is upside-down!”
— ‘Bed Bug’ Eddie Grant (Burt Young), The Pope of Greenwich Village
It will all depend on the language in the final version that comes out of committee. The effect of one little word can be immense in these things and will have to be monitored closely. At a minimum, it seems there is clear intent from both House and Senate to not only allow opting out without penalty as well as no threat of Title 1 funding withdrawal.
I am NOT holding my breath. There’s too much CC$$ and testing $$$$$ involved. Plus the atmosphere, no matter what any deformer says, is PUNITIVE and does not support good teaching.
Thanks Diane!!
Thanks for the update, please post when this passes (I hope it’s OK to depend on this blog for such news) so I can start contacting my legislators about allowing an opt out option.