SPRINGFIELD  –  It’s costing Illinois tens of millions of dollars for a test that grade schoolers don’t like, and that lawmakers are questioning.Students are taking the ISAT this week, even as lawmakers in Springfield are questioning the test.  The ISAT measures kids in third through eighth grade, but doesn’t translate to the Prarie State Achievement Exam which measures high schoolers.  Downstate Republican Roger Eddy says the tests meet all of the federal requirements, but cannot tell how well students can read or write.

30310Eddy1          :21       …don’t do that”

Illinois spends 44-point-8 million on the ISAT and PSAE every year.  State Schools Superintendent Chris Koch says schools are locked into the tests because of state and federal mandates.

30310Koch2          :17          …federal requirement.”

Koch says he wants to change the tests, but likely not til 2013.  Lawmakers say they’d consider dropping some of the testing requirements, but fear Illinois could lose millions of federal dollars if they do.