Unes Bill Offering ACT Test Option to Illinois School Districts Passes House
With broad support from area school districts, a bill
sponsored by Representative Unes (R-East Peoria) requiring the State of
Illinois to provide the ACT test to any school district that wishes to employ
it for purposes of measuring and demonstrating college readiness, passed by
73-36 votes in the Illinois House of Representatives today despite opposition
from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This proposed
legislation comes after ISBE’s unexpected decision to abandon its successful
and well-established history with the ACT by instead entering into a three-year
contract with SAT. The ACT has long been the preferred college-readiness
exam in states like Illinois.
“I was surprised and disappointed when the State Board
of Education announced last fall that it was ending its partnership with ACT in
favor of SAT-- a shift that has been largely opposed by local school districts
while at the same time offering no obvious net benefit to our state. I
believe that the consequences of marginalizing our local school districts and
our students in this manner far outweigh any of the immediate and narrow
cost-saving benefits cited by ISBE in their decision to enter into an exclusive
contract with the SAT,” said Rep. Mike Unes.
By law, the Illinois State Board of Education must
provide each high school student with the opportunity to take one
college-readiness exam. The Board cites a modest cost-savings benefit in
their decision to enter into a contract with SAT, amounting to just over $5 per
student, or about $450,000 annually. Students may choose to take the ACT
exam on their own, however without this legislation proposed by Representative
Unes, they will have to individually bear the cost of around $39-$57 per
test. With Unes’ legislation however, the State would uphold their
statutory requirement to provide just one test to each student, but would give
school districts the choice to administer either the ACT or SAT, based on a
preference that supports their existing curriculum.
“I am incredibly pleased to have received this degree
of bipartisan support for the legislation. I am encouraged to see that
despite the currently toxic environment in Springfield, there remain ways in
which we as a legislative body can come together to affect some moderate,
positive change while we continue to work toward resolution to the larger, more
serious issues that plague our state. I sincerely hope that days like
this will represent to us all that we do in fact have the ability to find
common ground on challenging issues, and that we will continue to apply that
attitude moving forward,” said Rep. Mike Unes.
For more information on this legislation, please
contact Representative Unes’ Pekin District Office at 309-620-8631.
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