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State loses federal funds over math test
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More from EducationThe U.S. Department of Education will withhold $1 million from the California Department of Education for failing to meet math-testing requirements for eighth-graders, the agency said in a letter.
The state was under pressure to devise a new test after federal officials said California's current exam measures only sixth- and seventh-grade math.
The state Board of Education voted in July to make every eighth-grader take an Algebra I test instead. That prompted a lawsuit from several school groups that said schools could not meet the mandate so quickly.
After they sued, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge postponed the algebra test, leaving California without a new eighth-grade math test.
Federal officials said that means the state will not be able to follow the No Child Left Behind Act anytime soon, prompting them to withhold $1 million.
California schools won't lose out, however, said Chad Colby, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education. He said the funding instead will be distributed directly to needy schools, without input from California's Department of Education.
California officials have 20 days to appeal the decision.
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