During the course of the Shelby County school year, schools have been excessively tested. This year, Shelby County Schools have been tested more than any other school district in Tennessee. These excessive number of standardized tests have taken away from learning time within the schools, and have caused a drop in grades and scores throughout the public school system; not to mention the physical, psychological, and emotional distress. With this petition, the students of the Shelby County Schools System and throughout the State of Tennessee are seeking out to resolve this issue. The problem with the testing within the public school systems is that there is no way to opt out of the tests.

The purpose of the policy is to provide an option for students to opt out of high-stake tests that are mandated by the school district or the school itself. This policy excludes the ability to opt out of Tennessee state mandated tests such as ACT, SAT, or TNReady tests. To be exempt, students must provide his/her score report from any college admission test of his/her choice. Another proposition is for the student’s scores to fall at or be above the Tennessee state average score for that test for the current calendar year, and the score report is verifiable through the testing company. Taking standardized tests takes away from learning time in the classroom. This petition is in alignment with the Fair Assessment Act. The policy is to be upheld by the Tennessee Public School System.Our main purpose is to allow students of Tennessee the option to opt out of district tests.