The ONLY Way the Testing Madness Will Stop

is if parents all over the country refuse to have their kids tested. Teachers have very little say or power to do it for fear of retaliation.

There may be hope after all:

Parents have the right to opt their kids out of the tests. There's no punishment, though the kids get a zero. Handfuls have opted out over the years, often at alternative schools. A few years back a Seattle science teacher refused to give the test, saying it was harmful to students.

But state officials say parents have never pulled their kids on this large a scale.

"We're kind of shocked at the size of it," said Nathan Olson, spokesman for the state superintendent of public instruction. "No Child Left Behind is still the law of the land."

Parents at Seattle Hill say budget cuts drove them to conclude the tests were a poor use of money and classroom time.