What do you think of this and didn't several states make this commitment to their students?

"Oklahoma broke a promise to the class of 2021 so it could save $1.9 million. The cost to those students – in academic opportunities and scholarship dollars – cannot be calculated.

The state made a commitment to provide a college admissions test for free during school hours to all public-school juniors beginning with the 2017 graduating class. Most school districts administer the ACT. A few use the SAT.

Officials said giving the test as part of the school day eliminates any barriers – like cost, transportation, work and family obligations – that can prevent students from taking the test on a Saturday at a national testing site. Testing all juniors also helps educators pinpoint skills gaps that need to be addressed before graduation. 

COVID-19 disrupted all state assessment testing last spring. Officials with the Oklahoma State Department of Education said they planned to use the $1.9 million budgeted for the spring test to provide it this fall when those 37,000 students returned for their senior year.

That changed after the Legislature cut the department’s 2020-21 budget by $78 million, including $5.4 million less for testing

Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, who chairs the House committee on education appropriations, said lawmakers had to cut the department’s testing fund to help pay for a $32 million increase in health insurance for teachers and support staff.  

“We did what we had to do to get the budget to work,” McBride said."

Submitted September 20, 2020 at 06:31PM by liart_h https://ift.tt/3cnVNRx